PRISONERS  0 
RUSSIA 


N  J  AM  IN  HOWARD 


^0 


yryr^ 


\ 


REESE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
Class 


Dr.   Benjamin   Howard. 


PRISONERS    OF 
RUSSIA 


A    PERSONAL    STUDY    OF    CONVICT    LIFE 
IN    SAKHALIN    AND    SIBERIA 


BY 

BENJAMIN  HOWARD,   M.  A.,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  C.  8.  E. 


WITH    A    PREFACE    BY 

Brigadier-General  O.  O.  HOWARD,  U.  S.  A.  (Retired) 


ILLUSTRATED 


or  THE       ''"\ 

UNIVE^  ^ 


NEW  YORK 
D.  APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 

190Z 


REESE 


Copyright,  1902 
By  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Published  May,  1902 


PREFACE 


Dr.  Benjamin  Douglas  Howard,  who  in 
this  volume  chronicles  the  results  of  a  series  of 
special  and  valuable  studies  of  Siberian  prison 
life,  especially  in  the  far-distant  and  almost  un-* 
known  island  prison  of  Sakhalin,  was  born  at 
Chesham,  Bucks,  England,  March  21,  1836, 
His  father,  Thomas  Howard,  was  a  manufac- 
turer of  woodenware,  one  of  the  staple  trades 
of  Chesham,  an  honourable  man,  and  a  Baptist 
of  the  straightest  Calvinistic  school,  being  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  Townfield,  Chesham. 
Thomas  had  five  children — Mary,  Samuel,  Caro- 
line, Benjamin,  and  Ephraim.  His  wife  dying 
while  the  children  were  young,  the  father 
brought  them  up  with  a  strictness  bordering 
on  severity.  At  his  death,  Benjamin  and  the 
younger  brother  Ephraim  were  cared  for  by 
their  guardians,  Mr.  S.  Stone  and  Mrs.  Birch, 
of  Blucher  Street,  Chesham,  at  whose  house 
Benjamin  lived.  He  attended  the  school  of  Mr. 
J.  Boulden,  where  he  evinced  ability  far  beyond 
that  of  the  other  boys,  his  crayon  sketches  and 


1 44i6« 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

paintings  notably  attracting  attention  by  their 
excellence. 

After  he  left  school,  his  guardian  wished  to 
apprentice  him  to  some  kind  of  work  that  was 
very  distasteful,  so  he  left  Chesham  to  carve  out 
a  different  career  for  himself.  For  a  time  he 
worked  at  the  trade  of  painter  and  paper-hanger 
in  the  town  of  Luton,  Bedfordshire,  but  even 
then  he  was  anxious  to  enter  a  university,  for  his 
first  teaching  in  the  Chesham  school  had  only 
fitted  him  for  commercial  life.  Not  communi- 
cating this  wish  to  those  who  would  have  will- 
ingly aided  him  to  obtain  a  university  scholar- 
ship, which  he  could  have  easily  won,  he, 
hearing  about  the  year  1853  that  the  American 
colleges  were  accessible  to  such  as  he,  embarked 
for  New  York. 

After  his  arrival  in  America  he  worked  at  his 
trade  in  several  cities  for  a  livelihood,  and 
with  indomitable  perseverance  attended  college 
classes.  He  was  so  determined  to  accomphsh 
his  object,  which  at  that  time  was  to  become  a 
medical  missionary,  that  frequently,  after  a  hard 
day's  work,  he  sat  up  till  sunrise,  being  at  his 
desk  until  so  overpowered  by  sleep  that  he 
would  fasten  his  eyelids  to  his  brow  with  muci- 
lage paper. 

Benjamin  Howard  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
obtain   a   first-class   education,   and   he   seldom 

vi 


Preface 

failed  to  accomplish  the  object  on  which  he  had 
set  his  heart.  His  classmate,  Joseph  D.  Bartley, 
M.  A.,  writes  this  of  him  in  those  days:  "  He  be- 
came a  member  of  the  class  entering  WilHams 
College  1855,  at  about  the  middle  of  its  course. 
Some  of  its  well-known  members  are  now 
known  as  Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  D.  D.,  of 
Columbus,  Ohio;  Prof.  E.  B.  Parsons,  Secretary 
of  the  Williams  Faculty;  Rev.  H.  A.  Schauffler, 
D.  D.,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Hon.  S.  G.  W.  Benja- 
min, formerly  U.  S.  Minister  to  Persia.  Presi- 
dent Mark  Hopkins,  that  prince  of  teachers, 
was  in  charge,  and  something  of  his  manliness 
and  gentle  Christian  character  was  impressed 
upon  all  who  came  under  his  beneficent  in- 
fluence. 

"  Dr.  Howard,  though  of  about  the  average 
age  of  his  classmates,  gave  the  impression  of 
greater  age  and  maturity.  There  was  a  cer- 
tain quiet,  dignity,  modesty,  self-possession,  and 
moral  earnestness  that  at  once  won  our  respect. 
He  was  an  earnest  student,  and  even  then  had 
such  medical  skill  as  to  lead  us  to  call  in  his  serv- 
ices when  needed.  The  writer  well  remembers 
the  skilful  treatment  he  received  from  Dr.  How- 
ard for  a  seriously  sprained  wrist,  caused  by  a 
fall  upon  the  ice.  At  Williams  he  gave  full 
promise  of  the  eminence  he  attained  in  later 
life." 

vii 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Being  for  some  reason  unable  to  continue 
at  Williams  for  graduation,  young  Howard  re- 
turned to  New  York,  took  up  the  study  of  med- 
icine, and  was  graduated  at  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons  in  1858,  receiving  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  he  made  professional  visits  to  houses 
that  he  had  painted  or  papered  when,  a  few  years 
before,  he  was  struggling  for  an  education  and 
working  at  his  trade.  In  1869  Williams  College 
conferred  upon  him,  in  recognition  of  his  schol- 
arship and  valuable  medical  services,  the  honor- 
ary degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  Dr.  Howard,  in 
his  will,  left  a  legacy  of  one  thousand  dollars  to 
Williams  College  to  aid  poor  students. 

His  cherished  desire  to  become  a  medical 
missionary  sent  him  to  Auburn  (N.  Y.)  Theo- 
logical-Seminary for  a  time,  but  at  last  indiffer- 
ent health  caused  him,  with  much  reluctance, 
to  abandon  this  project. 

He  naturally  was  much  interested  in  our 
slavery  discussions  at  this  period,  and  was  read- 
ing the  publications  of  the  day.  Having  been 
greatly  impressed  with  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  he 
determined  to  investigate  for  himself  the  prac- 
tical workings  of  human  slavery.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  went  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  obtained 
employment  as  a  clerk  in  a  slave  market.  What 
he  saw,  including  the  customary  paid  admissions 
viii 


Preface 

of  young  men  about  town  to  the  quarters  of  the 
female  slaves  who  were  awaiting  sale,  so  aroused 
his  indignation  and  sympathy  that  he  at  once  be- 
came an  active  agent  of  the  "  underground  rail- 
way "  to  Canada.  He  did  this  while  still  a  clerk 
at  his  desk  in  the  slave  market.  Soon  this  dou- 
ble occupation  was  discovered.  Then,  being 
warned  by  a  companion,  he  fled  from  Missouri, 
barely  escaping  with  his  life. 

The  war  for  the  Union  breaking  out  soon 
after  the  completion  of  his  medical  studies,  Dr. 
Howard  immediately  volunteered  his  services  to 
the  Government  as  a  surgeon,  and  was  enrolled 
May  20,  1 86 1,  and  mustered  into  service  May 
22d  as  assistant  surgeon  in  the  Nineteenth 
Regiment  of  New  York  Volunteers,  afterward 
known  as  the  Third  New  York  Light  Artillery. 
He  was  to  have  served  two  years,  but  meantime, 
having  passed  the  very  difficult  examination,  he 
was  appointed,  on  August  28th  of  the  same  year, 
assistant  surgeon  in  the  regular  army,  and  soon 
after  attached  to  the  staff  of  Major-General  Mc- 
Clellan,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Acting  as  an  aide-de-camp,  he  visited  my  di- 
vision during  the  battle  of  Antietam.  In  this, 
and  in  all  the  battles  where  he  was  present,  Dr. 
Howard  served  faithfully  and  with  gallantry. 
On  one  occasion,  having  captured  a  Confederate 
spy,  he  was  able  to  convey  to  the  commanding 

ix 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

general  such  information  as  to  aid  materially  in 
a  victory  for  the  Union  forces. 

He  was  at  one  time  medical  purveyor  and 
acting  medical  director  of  the  Department  of  the 
Ohio.  It  was  while  acting  as  senior  operator  to 
the  regular  troops  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  while  away  from  headquarters,  that,  after 
one  of  the  severe  engagements,  he  was  captured 
by  a  strolling  party  of  Confederates.  Stripped 
by  them  of  all  his  valuables,  and  even  of  his  hat, 
he  was  made  to  march  most  of  one  day  in  the 
hot  sun  before  he  was  released.  This  hardship 
brought  on  a  partial  sunstroke  and  nervous  de- 
bility from  which  he  never  fully  recovered,  and 
it  is  wonderfully  to  his  credit  that  he  accom- 
plished so  much  in  the  line  of  his  profession  as 
he  did,  with  lasting  benefits  to  humanity,  in  his 
greatly  impaired  condition.  In  spite  of  his 
physical  troubles,  he  continued  his  military  du- 
ties until  the  final  investment  of  Petersburg, 
when  he  resigned  and  left  the  army,  December 
28,  1864. 

Because  of  his  large  experience  gained  in  the 
army  during  the  civil  war.  Dr.  Howard  decided 
at  first  to  practise  medicine  in  New  York  city, 
making  a  specialty  of  surgery.  In  a  very  short 
time  he  obtained  a  large  practice,  being  on  every 
hand  greatly  respected  and  sought  after.  He 
was  an  indefatigable  worker  in  practice  and  in 

X 


Preface 

pursuing  his  medical  studies,  making  short  trips 
to  Europe  for  that  purpose.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  attention  of  the  medical  world  at  large 
was  called  to  this  modest  and  able  practitioner, 
particularly  through  the  appearance,  in  1871,  of 
a  prize  essay  written  by  him  for  the  American 
Medical  Association,  entitled  The  Direct  Meth- 
od of  Artificial  Respiration,  or  the  Treatment  of 
Persons  apparently  Dead  from  Suffocation  by 
Drowning  or  from  other  Cause.  This  simplifi- 
cation of  Marshall  Hall's  method  for  resuscitat- 
ing persons  seemingly  drowned  was  the  greatest 
service  done  for  humanity  by  Dr.  Howard.  His 
method  was  immediately  adopted  in  hand-books 
which  were  published  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment and  by  municipalities  throughout  the 
United  States.  Now  every  policeman  is  in- 
debted to  Dr.  Howard  for  the  simple  instruc- 
tions which  have  enabled  him  to  aid  the  appar- 
ently drowned.  An  example  of  these  simplifi- 
cations was  that  Dr.  Howard  was  the  first  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  in  nearly  all  cases  per- 
sons are  drowned  with  their  clothes  on,  and  that 
in  attempts  at  resuscitation  this  clothing  can  be 
used  in  a  bundle  over  which  to  lay  the  patient. 

At  this  period  of  his  life  Dr.  Howard  was 
Lecturer  on  Operative  Surgery  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  New  York; 
Professor  of  Surgery  and  Surgeon  in  the  Long 

xi 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Island  College  Hospital;  Professor  of  Surgery 
elect  in  the  Medical  College  at  Cincinnati;  and 
from  1872  to  1873  Professor  of  Obstetrics,  and 
1873-^75  Professor  of  Surgery,  in  the  University 
of  Vermont.  He  was  also  a  Fellow  of  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Medicine.  He  rendered  as- 
sistance to  his  profession  by  his  many  writings 
on  medical  subjects,  a  few  of  which  were  on  the 
antiseptic  treatment  of  gunshot  wounds  of  the 
chest  by  hermetically  sealing;  a  new  method  of 
treating  hip-joint  disease;  removal  of  several 
bullets  from  deep  substance  of  the  brain;  on  an 
army  ambulance  wagon  with  interior  springs, 
awarded  first  prize  and  medal  at  the  Paris  Inter- 
national Exposition;  a  prize  essay  on  Treatment 
of  Aneurism  and  the  Ligature  of  Arteries;  a 
prize  essay  on  a  ready  method  of  artificial  respi- 
ration; and  on  apparatus  for  demonstrating  the 
anatomy  and  treatment  of  hernia. 

In  1875  Dr.  Howard  left  New  York  to  re- 
cruit, if  possible,  his  health  by  a  prolonged  stay 
in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  At  first  he  spent 
two  or  three  years  in  leisure  work  in  Vienna  and 
Paris.  In  France  he  was  able  to  obtain  an  inter- 
view with  the  Emperor,  and  to  suggest  the  use 
of  his  ambulance,  which  has  been  of  acknowl- 
edged service  in  the  French  army.  This  ambu- 
lance invented  by  Dr.  Howard  was  of  lower  con- 
struction than  those  then  in  use,  having  interior 
xii 


Preface 

springs  under  the  litter,  which  was  easily  taken 
in  and  out,  and  thus  transferred  a  patient  with 
greater  comfort.  Dr.  Howard  also  called  the 
attention  of  the  Paris  authorities  to  the  necessity 
of  a  street  ambulance  service  for  that  city.  Soon 
after  this  such  service  was  instituted,  founded  on 
the  practice  in  American  cities. 

Returning  to  England,  Dr.  Howard  was  for 
a  time  induced  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Lon- 
don, but,  as  a  close  friend  has  remarked,  his 
career  was  more  meteor-like  than  planetary,  and, 
though  he  did  stay  a  few  years  in  London,  he 
nevertheless  spent  most  of  his  time  in  travel  and 
research.  While  there  he  became  a  member  of 
several  clubs  like  the  Savoy  and  St.  George's  in 
Hanover  Square,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  medical  profession  generally.  Being  un- 
married, he  made  his  home  in  London  at  the 
Langham  Hotel,  Charing  Cross,  preferring  to  be 
at  Hberty  to  go  and  come  as  he  pleased. 

Desiring  an  English  degree  as  well  as  those 
of  America,  he  read  up  while  at  the  Langham 
Hotel,  passed  the  examinations  in  1888,  and  was 
awarded  the  degree  of  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Col- 
lege of  Surgeons,  Edinburgh  (F.  R.  C.  S.  E.). 
While  in  London  he  read  a  paper  on  anatomical 
discoveries  made  by  him  in  connection  with  the 
epiglottis,  which  was  published  in  the  transac- 
tions of  the  Royal  Medical  and  Chirurgical  So- 
xiii 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ciety  of  London.  About  this  time  he  became 
a  close  friend  of  Sir  William  McKenzie,  the  emi- 
nent throat  specialist,  and  was  made  also  a  Fel- 
low of  his  society. 

London  having  no  ambulance  service  for  its 
hospitals  other  than  that  provided  by  the  Order 
of  St.  John  for  hire,  Dr.  Howard  was  so  im- 
pressed with  this  necessity  that  he  agitated  the 
subject  for  several  months,  inventing  a  horse 
ambulance  especially  for  London  street  work. 
Mentioning  this  one  day  to  a  fellow-passenger 
in  a  train,  he  found  him  to  be  Mr.  Grossman, 
vice-chairman  of  a  committee  of  London  hos- 
pitals, who  entered  into  his  plans  most  thor- 
oughly, and  presented  one  of  Dr.  Howard's  am- 
bulances to  this  committee.  This  was  the  first 
ambulance  used  from  a  London  hospital  to  pick 
up  accident  cases  from  the  streets. 

Finally,  on  February  2,  1882,  a  meeting  was 
held,  presided  over  by  His  Royal  Highness  the 
Duke  of  Cambridge,  to  consider  the  advisability 
of  an  accident-ambulance  service  for  London. 
A  resolution  to  that  effect  was  passed  which 
was  earnestly  supported  by  Dr.  Howard,  and  a 
committee  formed  to  further  the  organization. 

From  this  beginning  the  ambulance  service 

was  soon  started,  with  a  partial  acceptance  of 

Dr.  Howard's  carriage.     The  present  splendid 

service  in  London  is  the  result.     So  that  Dr. 

xiv 


Preface 

Howard  has  received  the  credit  of  being  the 
originator,  and  largely  the  organizer,  of  the 
London  Ambulance  Service.  This  is  an  inci- 
dent of  this  philanthropist's  desire,  he  being  a 
keen  observer  of  all  surroundings,  to  suggest 
means  for  the  amelioration  of  suffering.  It  is 
said  that  this  was  the  first  horse  ambulance  serv- 
ice used  in  civil  life  in  any  part  of  Europe. 

During  this  period  Dr.  Howard  was  engaged 
as  one  of  the  authors  of  Quain's  Dictionary  of 
Medicine.  Also,  by  invitation,  he  lectured  at 
Guy's  Hospital,  in  St.  Bartholomew's,  and  in 
St.  Thomas's,  connected  with  the  medical  col- 
leges of  London,  as  well  as  at  the  hospitals  of 
La  Pitie  and  the  Salpetriere  of  Paris.  Dr.  How- 
ard did  not  practise  regularly  in  London,  but 
received  patients  by  appointment,  while  for  a 
season  he  was  the  medical  examiner  for  appli- 
cants to  the  Royal  Friendly  Society. 

Dr.  Howard  says  in  his  writings  that  since 
1859  he  had  become  interested  in  the  different 
convict  systems  in  the  world,  the  study  of  crim- 
inology and  prison  reform.  And  so,  beginning 
with  1888,  he  began  to  travel  considerably  for 
the  purpose  of  making  thorough  investigations 
of  these  subjects.  He  went  through  the  prin- 
cipal prisons  of  England,  Germany,  and  the 
United  States,  and  through  every  convict  prison 
between  St.  Petersburg  and  Siberia;  in  Russia 

XV 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

he  travelled  many  hundred  miles  in  hourly  con- 
tact with  over  five  hundred  exiles  by  road,  river, 
and  rail.  He  made  practical  studies  of  the  Ar- 
menians' troubles  in  their  midst.  He  went  again 
and  again  into  the  Russian  Jew  question,  and 
was  twice  put  under  arrest,  utterly  uncertain  as 
to  what  might  await  him. 

In  1 89 1  the  London  Lancet  published  an  ar- 
ticle from  his  pen — One  Hundred  Lashes  with 
the  Knout — which  caused  a  sensation  and  was 
copiously  copied  into  the  principal  provincial 
papers. 

Notwithstanding  the  acknowledged  severity 
of  this  punishment,  which  the  Doctor  discovered 
was  given  only  in  the  most  extreme  cases,  gener- 
ally those  of  repeated  murder,  he  was  thoroughly 
impressed  with  the  fairness  of  the  Russian  prison 
system,  and  he  gives  in  this  book  a  description 
of  this  flogging,  with  his  conclusions  regarding 
the  Russian  as  compared  with  our  own  ruinous, 
solitary-confinement  method  of  treating  crimi- 
nals. This  book  reveals  that  phase  of  the  life  of 
Dr.  Howard,  and  the  reader  will  find  it  interest- 
ing as  an  addition  to  the  study  of  criminology. 
He  had  marvellous  insight  into  character,  and 
his  good  humour  and  adroitness,  combined  with 
self-assertion,  enabled  him  to  pass  into  social 
positions  and  official  connections  where  others 
would  have  been  repulsed.  His  able  and  inter- 
xvi 


Preface 

esting  book  following  this  sketch  is  a  revelation 
of  this  success. 

On  July  19,  1890,  he  wrote  from  Korea: 
"  I  have  spent  a  month  in  Italy,  over  three 
months  in  India,  travelling  over  three  thousand 
miles  there,  striking  Mongolians,  then  to  Ceylon 
and  China,  thence  the  whole  length  of  Japan, 
living  as  the  natives  in  the  far  interior.  Am  now 
in  this  strange  region  of  Korea,  leaving  to-mor- 
row for  Siberia,  and  expecting  to  reach  the  ex- 
treme northeast,  whence  perhaps  Kamchatka. 
My  first  Russian  port  will  be  Vladivostok,  after 
that  I  may  have  some  exceptional  experiences." 
Which  proved  true  enough,  as  the  reader  will 
find. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Dr.  Howard,  known 
to  be  a  scientist  and  not  belonging  to  any  or- 
ganization for  the  propagation  of  Christianity, 
was  requested  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  mem- 
bers of  the  Imperial  Institute  in  Tokio,  Japan, 
on  the  subject  of  The  Christ  judged  by  Scientific 
Method. 

From  the  larger  audience  a  small  number  of 
Japanese  students  requested  further  information, 
so  that  Dr.  Howard  took  them  to  an  inner  room 
of  the  university,  and  it  has  since  transpired  that 
many,  then  hearing  of  Christ  for  the  first  time, 
were  convinced  and  made  public  confession  of 
their  belief  in  him. 

a  xvii 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Being  at  Vladivostok  a  little  later,  he  met 
the  governor  of  the  island  of  Sakhalin,  who  in- 
vited him  to  make  a  visit  to  his  prison  home. 
Dr.  Howard  joyfully  grasped  this  opportunity, 
for  which  he  had  long  waited,  and  has  given  it 
all  in  the  following  pages,  except  his  unique 
visit  and  life  for  two  weeks  among  the  strange 
natives  of  that  island,  which  he  published  in  a 
separate  volume  entitled  Life  Among  the  Trans- 
Siberian  Savages. 

After  all  these  experiences,  which  have  fallen 
to  the  lot  of  few  men,  and  after  recovering  from 
the  accident  of  a  terrible  shipwreck  in  Japan, 
he  returned  to  England  in  1896,  and  wrote  to 
a  friend:  "  Now  I  am  finished  and  never  mean 
to  run  any  risks  again."  He  soon  after  came 
to  America  and  took  apartments  in  New  York, 
which  he  had  always  enjoyed  because  of  the 
many  friends  of  earlier  days.  There  I  met  him 
again  in  1898.  Never,  as  we  have  seen,  of  robust 
health,  the  active  life  had  begun  to  wear  more 
and  more  upon  him;  his  suffering  from  neuras- 
thenia was  hard  to  bear.  Unknown  to  his  inti- 
mates, he  was  weakened  by  an  affection  of  the 
liver,  which  became  acute  in  the  spring  of  1900, 
and  of  which  he  died,  June  27th,  at  the  summer 
home  of  his  friend,  the  eminent  Dr.  Andrew  H. 
Smith,  who  had  removed  him  to  Elberon,  N.  J., 
from  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  shortly  before 
xviii 


Preface 

his  death.     He  was  laid  to  rest,  at  his  own  re- 
quest, in  the  quiet  cemetery  there. 

Dr.  Howard  and  I  could  not  trace  our  rela- 
tionship, yet  he  was  often  taken  for  me,  and 
sometimes  by  those  who  knew  one  or  the  other 
of  us  quite  well.  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  like  him 
— patient,  submissive,  cheerful,  and  Christian — 
when  my  last  days  draw  near  as  his  were  doing 
when  I  visited  him  a  few  times  just  before  his 
departure.  His  faith  and  trust  in  the  Master  he 
had  so  very  diligently  followed  were  simple  and 
complete.  Who  ever  through  his  entire  career 
showed  a  stronger  love  for  the  Lord  his  God  and 
for  his  fellow-men? 

O.  O.  Howard, 

Major-Generaly  U.  S.  A. 


XIX 


INTRODUCTION 


Thanks  to  some  excellent  books  on  Siberian 
travel,  the  topography  of  continental  Siberia  is 
now  so  well  known  that  anything  further  on 
that  topic  might  be  regarded  as  superfluous. 
Respecting  the  Russian  penal  exile  system,  how- 
ever, there  is  still  no  little  ignorance  and  confu- 
sion, and  not  without  reason. 

The  traveller  with  no  previous  acquaintance 
with  the  language,  whose  projected  visits  are 
telegraphed  before  he  starts  to  the  governor  of 
every  prison  to  whom  he  is  accredited  on  his  in- 
tended route,  labours  unavoidably  under  many 
disadvantages.  The  toil  of  completing  his  haras- 
sing journey  within  perhaps  a  very  limited  time 
is  in  itself  an  exhausting  occupation.  The  half- 
hour  exhibitions  prepared  for  him  at  each  of 
these  prisons,  scattered  hundreds  of  miles  apart, 
may  have  been  duly  made;  the  stories  of  certain 
exiles  and  prisoners  as  retailed  by  an  interpreter 
may  have  been  duly  incorporated  with  his  really 
authentic  experiences  for  future  use,  but  the 
daily  routine  of  the  ordinary  actual  life  of  prison- 
xxi 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ers  and  exiles,  in  prison  and  out  of  prison,  when 
no  traveller  is  near;  the  ordinary  methods  and 
life  of  the  officials;  the  actual  working  of  the 
system  in  its  different  details  and  departments — 
these  may  be  as  unknown  to  this  traveller  at  the 
end  of  his  trip  as  when  he  started.  Of  these 
things  seen  from  the  inside,  the  English-speak- 
ing public  is  still  practically  ignorant. 

In  illustration  of  one  of  these  points,  I  may 
perhaps  venture  to  remark  that  it  was  the  special 
mission  of  Mr.  Kennan  to  investigate  in  par- 
ticular the  alleged  cruelties  incident  to  the  ex- 
ile system.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  thrilling 
accounts  his  rare  art  and  enterprise  have  fur- 
nished, my  repeated  searches  throughout  his 
book  for  a  case  I  might  quote  in  which  he  him- 
self witnessed  a  flogging,  or  any  act  of  per- 
sonal violence  by  an  official,  have,  to  my  great 
surprise,  remained  fruitless:  I  have  not  been 
able  to  find  a  single  instance.  Few  people,  how- 
ever, doubt  but  that  such  incidents  frequently 
occur  just  where  Mr.  Kennan  was,  though  he 
did  not  see  them. 

Of  my  four  series  of  visits  to  Russian  and 
Siberian  prisons  made  between  1887  and  1897, 
I  purpose  to  say  practically  nothing  in  this  book. 
My  Life  with  Trans-Siberian  Savages  was  the 
first  work  on  that  country  by  any  foreigner  who 
had  visited  it,  and  treated  of  the  animus  there. 
xxii 


Introduction 

The  present  book  is  confined  to  the  exile  life 
there  from  an  inside  point  of  view,  as  known 
only  by  officials. 

The  nature  of  the  special  experience  here 
related  is  less  a  matter  of  merit  than  of  accident. 
In  no  other  way  could  it  have  possibly  come 
about,  as  the  slightest  betrayal  of  design,  or 
eagerness  on  my  part,  to  see  what  I  have  de- 
scribed would  at  the  start  have  defeated  any 
such  purpose.  This  experience  consisted  of  an 
actual  residence  in  a  penal  exile  settlement,  dur- 
ing which  I  was  the  companion  of  the  governor 
in  all  his  inspection  tours  far  and  near. 

From  the  inside  or  official  standpoint  I  saw 
everything  the  governor  saw.  While  each  offi- 
cial was  supposed  to  see  only  what  occurred  in 
his  own  department,  I  became  familiar  with 
all  the  departments  alike  in  their  innermost 
working.  This  applies  not  only  to  the  postal 
inspections,  the  Court  of  Justice,  and  the  Po- 
lice Department,  but  even  to  the  special  punish- 
ments about  which  the  secrecy  observed  is 
greater  than  about  any  other  penal  event  what- 
ever. At  each  of  the  floggings  which  occurred 
during  my  residence  on  Sakhalin,  the  culprits 
were  examined  by  me  personally  before,  during, 
and  after  the  execution  of  the  sentence. 

The  exiles  themselves,  I  think,  regarded  me 
as  their  friend,  and  thus  I  came  to  know  many 
xxiii 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

things  from  their  point  of  view,  which  were  care- 
fully concealed  from  every  ordinary  ofificial. 

^  As  a  penal  settlement,  the  place  in  which  I 
resided  was  of  uncommon  interest.  The  island 
of  Sakhalin  is  to  continental  Siberia  something 
worse  than  what  Siberia  is  to  the  rest  of  Russia. 
Its  alleged  cruelties  are  much  more  notorious. 
Sakhalin  is  the  penal  region  which  is  most 
distant  from  St.  Petersburg;  Korsakoff sk  is  its 
most  distant  settlement,  and  therefore  the  most 
distant  penal  settlement  within  the  Russian  Em- 
pire. The  dreadful  reputation  of  the  place  and 
the  fear  of  it  are  proportionate  to  its  distance. 

\  The  period  of  my  residence  in  Korsakoffsk 
was  within  the  time  when,  even  more  than  now, 
those  sent  there  were  almost  exclusively  double 
murderers,  or  such  politicals  as  were  consid- 
ered equally  dangerous.     They  included  chiefly 

/^such  assassins  and  brigands  as  the  various  pris- 
ons of  continental  Siberia  had  been  unable  to 
hold,  and  who  therefore  were  sent  to  this  island 
prison  for  safe-keeping.  Sakhalin  more  than 
any  other  penal  region  is  still  regarded  as  inevi- 
tably the  grave  of  everybody  sent  there.  The 
knout  and  other  punishments,  long  since  abol- 
ished everywhere  else,  are  here  still  retained  and 
practised  in  fullest  force. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  for  a  foreigner  my  ex- 
perience was  exceptional.     I  believe  that  it  was 
xxiv 


Introduction 

unique.  Indeed,  several  of  the  officials  in  Kor- 
sakoffsk  told  me  that,  previous  to  my  coming, 
no  foreigner  had  ever  been  known  to  pass  a  sin- 
gle night  there.  From  information  recently  re- 
ceived I  conclude  that  this  holds  good  to  this 
day. 

Some  of  the  reviews  of  my  first  book  on  Sak- 
halin *  contained  various  surmises  as  to  my 
silence  in  its  pages  about  the  exile  question. 
On  this  point  I  will  now  for  the  first  time  say 
that,  whatever  were  the  reasons  for  this  reti- 
cence, they  were  entirely  self-imposed  then,  and 
do  not  exist  at  all  now.  At  the  present  moment 
I  enjoy  an  honourable  and  absolute  freedom  to 
state  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  as  to  all  facts 
which  came  within  my  own  personal  knowledge. 

When  returning  from  a  more  recent  trip,  a 
few  months  since,  I  learned  at  Moscow  that,  in 
accordance  with  the  five-year  time  limit  of  the 
governmental  term  of  service  in  Sakhalin,  a 
change  of  the  entire  roster  of  the  officials  I  knew 
in  Korsakofifsk  had  then  been  completed. 

Should  these  pages  meet  the  eye  of  any  of 
these  gentlemen,  I  am  sure  that  he  will  admit 
the  impartiality  with  which  I  have  presented 
facts,  even  though  he  may  dififer  from  me  as  to 
some  of  my  conclusions. 

♦Life  with  Trans-Siberian  Savages.     Longmans  &  Co., 
LondoTi  and  New  York,  1893. 

XXV 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

My  photographic  views,  I  regret  to  say, 
went  down  and  were  lost  in  the  Httle  Japanese 
trader  which  I  chartered  to  take  me  from  Sak- 
halin to  explore  the  island  of  Yezo  in  Japan. 

Benjamin  Howard. 


XXVI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    Vladivostok i 

II.    The  Vladivostok  Prison         ....  15 

III.  To  Sakhalin 41 

IV.  The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin        ...  57 

V.      KORSAKOFFSK   WAYS 69 

VI.    My  First  Sunday  in  Korsakoffsk        .        .  92 

VII.     The  Korsakoffsk  Prison        .        .        .        .111 

VIII.    The  Food  of  the  Exiles         .        .        .       .130 

IX.    The  Occupations  of  Exiles    ....  138 

X.    Women    Exiles,    Marriage    Problems,    and 

Colonization 155 

XI.    The  Knout,  its  Use  and  Effects  .        .        .  180 

XII.    Life  of  the  Officials — Dangers  of  Cruelty  209 

XIII.  Baptism  of  Exile  Children — The  Blessing 

OF  THE  Waters 224 

XIV.  Private  Walks  and  Talks  in  Korsakoffsk  236 
XV.    The  Hospital 247 

XVI.    The  Physiognomy  of  Murderers— Remorse  259 

XVII.    The  Question  of  Reformation       .        .        .  276 
XVIII.    The    Geography    and    Natural    Resources 

of  Sakhalin 289 

XIX.    A   General   View   of    the   Siberian    Penal 

System— Its  Aim 329 

XX.    The  Anglo-American  and  Siberian    Penal 

Systems— Contrasts 338 

XXI.    The  Universal  Application  of  the  Siberian 

System 354 

XXII.    From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 359 

xxvii 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


Dr.  Benjamin  Howard    .... 
View  of  Vladivostok,   looking  southwest 
A  mid-winter  mail  train  in   Sakhalin     . 
The  Governor's  house,    Korsakoffsk 
Prisoners  under  guard    .... 
Transporting  bricks  .... 

View  near  Alexandrovsk,   Sakhalin 
Convicts  in  hospital         .... 
Woodchoppers  returning  from  work 
Entrance  to  the  Vladimirsk  mine  . 
A  group  of  Sakhalin  miners  and  their  families 
Matsui  Sau  and  Dr.  Howard 


Frontispiece 


6 
60 

86 
124 
152 
214 
250 
298 
316 
334 
364 


XXIX 


PRISONERS  OF  RUSSIA 


CHAPTER    I 

VLADIVOSTOK 

Reckoning  from  St.  Petersburg,  the  coun- 
try of  which  I  have  chiefly  to  write  is  the  most 
distant  penal  district  within  the  Russian  Em- 
pire, and  the  post  at  which  I  resided  the  most 
distant  settlement  within  its  boundaries. 

Of  the  better-known  books  of  Siberian  trav- 
el, that  of  Mr.  Kennan  takes  the  reader  as  far  as 
Nertchinsk;  while  that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lansdell 
carries  him  about  two  thousand  miles  farther,  to 
Vladivostok,  beyond  which  he  tried  to  go,  but, 
like  others  before  him,  found  it  impracticable. 
It  is  here,  where  Mr.  Lansdell's  account  ends, 
that  mine  begins.  In  view  of  the  increasing  in- 
terest in  Vladivostok,  however,  I  allow  my 
account  to  overlap,  in  this  regard  only,  that  of 
the  authors  who  have  preceded  me. 

I  arrived  at  Vladivostok,  which  in  this  book 
I  take  as  our  starting  point,  very  early  on  a  July 
morning,  and,  after  looking  through  each  of  its 
three  taverns  euphemistically  called  hotels,  se- 

I 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

lected  the  best  room  available  at  the  Hotel  Tis- 
sier,  not  only  because  it  had  a  better  situation 
than  either  of  the  others,  but  also  because,  from 
what  I  could  gather,  it  had  a  better  reputation 
with  the  more  intelligent  classes  of  Russian  so- 
ciety. 

I  found  that  the  Hotel  Tissier,  like  many 
other  houses  and  things  in  Vladivostok,  though 
fundamentally  Russian,  was  largely  German, 
slightly  French,  and  considerably  American. 
It  is  a  two-story  structure,  with  a  balcony  on  the 
second  story  fronting  on  the  unpaved  street,  the 
back  part  being  so  built  into  the  steep  hill  behind 
it  that  the  ground  floor  in  the  rear  becomes  the 
second  floor  in  front.  Like  all  the  other  build- 
ings in  the  town,  it  is  entirely  of  wood,  the  ex- 
terior painted  a  dead  white  except  the  blinds  or 
shutters,  most  of  which  are  green,  as  is  seen  so 
generally  in  New  England. 

The  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  are  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  only  by  archways.  They 
are  rudely  furnished,  and  are  used  respectively 
as  bar,  restaurant,  and  billiard-room,  as  much  by 
the  general  public  as  by  the  ten  or  fifteen  guests 
of  the  house.  They  form  its  main  entrance,  un- 
less one  chooses  to  use  a  little  back-garden 
gate  on  the  hillside  in  the  rear.  At  the  side  of 
the  house,  under  an  awning,  are  little  tables  in 
the  continental  fashion,  forming  a  beer-garden 

2 


Vladivostok 

which  is  a  favourite  resort  of  the  hotel  people 
at  about  the  time  when  the  guests  want  to  go 
to  bed,  the  hilarity  usually  reaching  its  height 
wl*n  the  sleepless  visitors  begin  to  think  of  get- 
ting up. 

As  the  liquid  refreshments  sold  at  this  dis- 
tant place  are  for  the  most  part  brought  all  the 
way  from  France  and  Germany,  and  the  cost  of 
each  libation  averages  about  twenty-five  cents, 
I  inferred  that  the  residents  could  not  be  suffer- 
ing very  severely  from  poverty. 

In  the  liberality  of  its  convivial  habits, 
Vladivostok  reminded  me  of  some  of  the  Col- 
orado and  California  mining  towns.  I  attributed 
it  to  the  fact  that  Vladivostok  is  the  last  and  only 
seaport  town  on  this  side  of  the  north  pole 
where  this  sort  of  diversion  can  be  indulged  in. 
The  metropolis  of  the  Primorsk  was  evidently 
prepared  to  meet  the  demand  for  its  staple  com- 
modity. 

.  The  most  notable  and  interesting  factor  in 
the  Hotel  Tissier  was  Tissier  himself.  By  birth 
a  Greek,  he  was  a  Russian  by  adoption.  Not  a 
country  did  I  mention  but  he  had  been  in  it. 
Italian  he  had  picked  up  in  Italy,  French  in 
France;  his  American,  which  was  very  pro- 
nounced, he  had  acquired  in  California,  his 
Scotch  in  Glasgow.  He  seemed  to  have  tried 
his  hand  at  almost  everything.     Shipwrecked  a 

3  3 


/ 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

few  years  previously  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  he  had 
drifted  about  for  forty-eight  hours  with  two 
other  survivors  in  an  open  boat.  When  this 
was  sighted  by  a  passing  sail,  Tissier  was  the 
only  man  of  the  party  who  was  not  quite  dead. 
Stranded  at  Vladivostok,  he  took  the  manage- 
ment of  a  small  tavern,  and,  being  now  pretty 
well  cured  of  his  thirst  for  adventure,  he  stuck 
to  his  business  and  built  his  hotel. 

Alert  and  amiable,  shrewd,  yet  generous, 
he  took  a  joyous  delight  in  promoting  the  hap- 
piness of  his  guests.  On  this  farther  edge  of 
the  world  the  newly  arrived  visitor,  wherever 
he  came  from,  was  greeted  cordially  in  his 
own  tongue,  and  quickly  made  to  feel  that 
at  the  Hotel  Tissier  he  was  not  far  from 
home. 

Alas  for  Tissier!  Alas  still  more  for  Mme. 
Tissier!  The  night  before'  I  left  the  hotel  he 
talked  for  some  time  with  me  in  the  confidential 
way  people  reserve  for  only  a  sympathetic  listen- 
er. I  had  bid  him  good-night,  and  was  half-way 
up  the  stairs,  when  he  came  running  back  and 
half  whispered  in  his*  best  California  dialect, 
which  he  affected  when  in  his  specially  friendly 
moods,  this  postscript:  "Yes,  it's  all  very  true 
what  you  have  just  said — I've  got  a  good  stand. 
Yes,  that's  a  fact,  and  I'm  all  nicely  fixed;  yes, 
you  can  bet  your  bottom  dollar  on  that,  but,  you 

4 


Vladivostok 

see,  I'm  too  well  fixed — that's  so.  I'm  so  com- 
fortable that  I  tell  you  it's  getting  darn'd  tedious, 
that's  what's  the  matter!  " 

Of  the  two  rooms  I  had  found  vacant  on  my 
arrival,  my  choice  depended  on  the  fact  that  in 
the  one  case  I  should  have  to  pass  through  the 
room  of  my  neighbour,  while  in  the  other  case 
he  would  have  to  pass  through  mine;  so  out  of 
regard  for  the  feelings  of  this  as  yet  prospective 
personage  I  took  the  end  one,  notwithstanding 
the  abominable  dung-heap  which  was  on  a  level 
with  my  windows,  overlooking  the  little  back 
garden  of  wild  flowers  and  weeds. 

The  situation  of  Vladivostok  is  just  suffi- 
ciently picturesque  to  be  fruitful  of  inconve- 
niences. With  the  exception  of  one  straggling 
street  leading  to  the  only  pass  through  the 
mountains  in  the  rear  to  the  main  Siberian  road, 
the  town  consists  chiefly  of  a  single,  long,  un- 
paved  street,  cut  into  the  face  of  the  hillside, 
parallel  with  the  shore,  from  which  the  acclivity 
continues  to  the  top  of  the  high  range  of  hills 
immediately  behind  it,  strongly  suggestive  of 
Ventnor  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

Along  the  upper  side  of  this  street  are  houses 
at  irregular  intervals,  including  the  three  tav- 
erns, also  three  very  large  general  stores,  thor- 
oughly American,  but  owned  by  Germans,  in 
which  you  can  buy  a  spool  of  thread,  negotiate 

5 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

for  a  whole  ship's  cargo,  or  get  a  draft  cashed 
on  any  well-known  bank  in  Europe. 

At  the  north  end,  just  beyond  the  Hotel  Tis- 
sier,  on  a  commanding  eminence,  stands  the 
newly  built  and  imposing  Greek  church,  and  at 
the  extreme  opposite  end  is  the  prison. 

On  the  lower  side  of  the  street,  sloping  to- 
wards the  harbour,  is  the  residence  of  the  mayor 
and  governor,  also  the  pretty  Httle  Naval  Club; 
but  these  are  built  so  low  into  the  bank  as  not 
to  obstruct  the  view  of  the  beautiful  harbour 
from  the  street  above  them. 

On  some  lower-lying  land  beyond  the 
church,  and  out  of  sight  from  the  main  street, 
are  the  hospital,  the  avenue,  and  the  Govern- 
ment workshops,  including  the  navy  yard,  re- 
pairing docks,  and  everything  forming  a  com- 
plete naval  station.  This  is  the  most  thoroughly 
protected  part  of  the  harbour. 

My  first  impression  of  the  supposed  security 
of  Vladivostok,  from  a  military  point  of  view, 
was  not  confirmed  by  a  careful  later  examina- 
tion. 

The  forts,  which  wisely  enough  are  earth- 
works, and  which  command  the  narrow  entrance 
to  the  harbour  on  the  left  as  ships  approach  it, 
are  built  on  a  very  long,  sandy  promontory, 
which  is  so  narrow  that  one  could  fire  right 
across  it  with  a  navy  revolver.  This  is  all  there 
6 


o 

(n 

bo 

C 

o 

o 


Vladivostok 

is  to  separate  the  harbour  and  the  town  from  a 
large  and  deep  bay,  which,  on  the  south,  indents 
the  coast  very  near  to  Vladivostok.  Accord- 
ingly, in  case  of  war,  the  town  and  harbour  would 
be  open  to  bombardment  by  gun-boats  in  front 
and  in  flank  across  the  strip  of  land,  while  troops 
could  simultaneously  be  landed  about  three  miles 
to  the  south,  whence,  by  a  fairly  good  road  which 
exists,  they  might  attack  the  town  directly  in  the 
rear. 

I  should  have  been  greatly  surprised  if  I  had 
not  learned,  as  I  did  afterward  from  some  Rus- 
sian ofBcers  who  spoke  with  delightful  frankness 
on  the  subject,  that  this  gross  military  defect  in 
the  site  of  Vladivostok  had  not  only  brought 
severe  censure  upon  the  officers  who  had  se- 
lected it,  but  that  even  after  the  town  had 
been  fairly  built,  there  had  been  a  strong  incHna- 
tion  to  shift  it  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  har- 
bour. 

The  weakness  of  the  present  site  is  precisely 
the  same  as  that  which  would  have  been  fatal 
to  Sebastopol  after  the  Alma,  and  is  beyond 
remedy. 

On  reconnoitring  the  country  to  the  rear  of 
the  town,  however,  I  found  that  on  the  route  I 
have  mentioned  troops  were  at  the  time  hard  at 
work  erecting  earthworks  on  nearly  every  neigh- 
bouring hilltop.     Still,  having  been  actively  en- 

7 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

gaged  in  three  sieges,  I  ventured  to  express  the 
opinion  that  a  few  days'  bombardment  would 
demonstrate  that  in  its  present  site  Vladivostok 
is  untenable. 

I  made  my  personal  examination  of  the  po- 
sition undisguised  and  openly.  Several  times 
I  have  been  asked  how  I  managed  to  do  it.  I 
can  only  reply  that  I  didn't  manage  it  at  all;  I 
simply  did  it.  Without  permission  or  remark  I 
walked  from  my  hotel  along  the  route  in  which 
I  felt  an  interest,  taking  some  care,  perhaps,  not 
to  appear  unduly  concerned  where  my  interest 
was  greatest.  I  sauntered  by  the  companies  of 
various  regiments,  and  saw  their  rifle  practice 
with  targets  and  dummy  figures,  their  bayonet 
practice,  and  their  company  and  regimental 
drill. 

As  the  road  which  I  have  mentioned  is  the 
only  one  in  this  direction,  I  needs  followed  it 
on  my  return,  passing  various  soldiers  and  offi- 
cers, who  appeared  to  have  no  more  idea  of  in- 
terfering with  me  than  I  had  of  arresting  them. 
I  was  quite  content  to  have  it  so,  as  I  had  not 
even  a  passport  with  me;  hence,  in  the  other 
event,  I  might  have  suffered  considerable  in- 
convenience. 

Fresh  from  this  experience,  I  found  no  little 
amusement  in  a  conversation  which  I  overheard 
that  very  evening  between  two  travellers  at  the 

8 


Vladivostok 

hotel.  They  told  of  various  foreigners  who  had 
been  reckless  enough  to  wander  alone  beyond 
the  city  limits,  and  had  suffered  the  usual  conse- 
quence of  imprisonment  as  spies  during  the 
long  period  which  was  required  to  establish  their 
innocence.  Considering  that  these  stories  were 
being  told  in  the  very  town  where  the  alleged 
incidents  were  said  to  have  occurred,  they  struck 
me  as  fair  samples  of  inaccuracy.  What  they 
might  grow  to  be  by  the  time  they  should  reach 
England  or  America  it  is  impossible  to  calcu- 
late. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  traveller  finds  himself 
in  a  seaport  town  which  is  new,  where  almost 
every  house  is  still  glistening  in  its  first  coat  of 
paint;  yet  the  interest  it  had  for  me  lay  not  so 
much  in  the  newness  as  in  the  future  of  this 
place,  which  bears  a  name  meaning  "  the  Lord 
of  the  East." 

As  is  usual  in  a  new  town,  the  optimists  pre- 
ponderate among  the  seers  and  prophets  in 
Vladivostok. 

The  beauty  of  its  site,  every  part  of  which 
looks  down  upon  the  beautiful  harbour  and 
across  the  bay  of  the  Golden  Horn  to  the  Sea 
of  Japan,  the  clearness  of  its  atmosphere,  and  the 
supposed  coolness  of  its  summer  climate,  have 
caused  it  to  receive  some  attention  as  a  pro- 
spective  summer  resort   for   debilitated   Euro- 

9 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

peans  from  India,  China,  and  other  parts  of  the 
Far  Orient. 

Though  this  harbour  is  ice-bound  for  many 
months  in  the  winter,  during  several  nights  I 
found  myself  promenading  my  bed-room  with 
my  head  tied  up  in  an  old  muslin  curtain  as  a 
protection  against  the  hosts  of  virulent  mosqui- 
toes, the  thermometer  in  the  daytime  register- 
ing 78°  Fahr.  in  the  shade.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  the  residents  themselves  regard  the  sum- 
mer season  as  the  most  disagreeable  part  of  the 
year. 

In  connection  with  the  future  commercial 
prospects  of  Vladivostok,  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
that,  excepting  only  Hakodate,  it  is  the  only 
safe  and  available  harbour  along  the  entire 
stretch  of  coast  between  the  Yellow  Sea  and  the 
north  pole.  This  harbour  affords  facilities  for 
vessels  of  every  class,  its  depth  at  its  entrance 
being  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet, 
and  at  its  shallowest  parts  from  thirty  to  sixty 
feet. 

^  During  the  summer  this  port  is  visited  by 
one  or  two  war-ships  from  the  Asiatic  squad- 
rons of  various  nations.  It  is  the  arrival  and 
departure  of  these  which  mark  the  principal 
social  events,  and  also  the  fluctuations  in  the 
market  prices  of  provisions  and  local  commodi- 
ties. 

10 


Vladivostok 

Besides  the  war-ships,  from  sixty  to  seventy 
merchant  vessels  visit  Vladivostok  during  the 
summer,  and  these,  with  the  men-of-war,  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  junks,  and  one  or  more  local 
steamers  in  the  harbour,  form,  in  the  height  of 
the  season,  a  lively  contrast  to  the  monotonous 
dulness  of  the  rest  of  the  year.  x 

The  civilian  population,  which  is  ever-vary- 
ing, consists  of  a  rare  conglomeration  of  nation- 
alities, including  Germans,  Finns,  Swedes, 
Americans,  Koreans,  and  Chinamen,  but  only  ' 
one  Englishman.  Stranger  still,  the  trade  of  the 
place  is  managed  without  the  help  of  a  single 
Scotchman.  The  larger  merchants  and  the 
clerks  they  employ  are  almost  exclusively  Ger- 
man, and  those  of  them  I  met  seemed  strikingly 
enterprising,  courteous,  and  efficient. 

Apart  from  these,  the  preponderating  ele- 
ment is  altogether  formed  by  the  Russian  offi- 
cials. Almost  every  person  I  met,  indeed,  was 
an  officer  either  in  the  army,  navy,  or  civil  serv- 
ice; and  of  these  not  a  few,  I  was  told,  had  been 
ordered  on  duty  out  here  as  a  mild  sort  of  pun- 
ishment or  reprimand.  / 

Two  of  the  regimental  companies  I  saw  on 
parade  in  Vladivostok  struck  me,  in  their  uni- 
formly superb  physique,  as  equal  to  the  English 
Life  Guards  or  any  troops  I  ever  saw  anywhere. 
On  inquiry  I  learned  that  every  man  of  them 
II 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

was  a  native  of  Siberia,  and  took  particular  pride 
in  the  fact. 

What  the  exports  of  the  place  were  it  was 
not  easy  to  discover,  but  the  imports  included 
almost  every  article  in  use,  and,  according  to 
of^cial  statements,  they  represented  an  amount 
more  than  twenty  times  the  value  of  the  ex- 
ports. 

As  compared  with  other  Siberian  towns, 
nothing  struck  me  so  forcibly  in  Vladivostok  as 
the  superior  air  of  intelligence  and  freedom  of 
the  people,  which  again,  even  more  than  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  buildings,  was  suggestive  of  a 
town  in  western  America.  When  I  remarked 
on  this  to  a  prominent  merchant,  he  replied  with 
boyish  hilarity,  "  Ah !  you  see,  we  are  so  far  from 
St.  Petersburg  that  we  do  pretty  much  as  we 
like  here." 

During  my  stay  in  the  town,  once,  and  once 
only,  did  I  see  a  resident  lady  in  the  street,  and 
her  costume  was  strictly  Siberian  in  its  unat- 
tractiveness. 

Among  the  public  institutions  of  Vladivos- 
tok I  found  those  of  an  educational  and  a  relig- 
ious nature  to  be  of  a  decidedly  favourable  char- 
acter. The  imposing  size  of  the  new  church 
building  fairly  expresses  the  sanguine  nature  of 
local  expectations.  There  was  another  church 
also,   which   had   recently   been   erected.      This 

12 


Vladivostok 

second  house  of  worship,  which  is  Lutheran, 
has  also  a  house  for  its  resident  clergyman,  who 
is  paid  by  the  Government,  as  chaplain  to  the 
Lutheran  soldiers,  and  is  one  of  only  four  or  five 
Protestant  clergymen  in  all  Siberia.  This  cler- 
gyman was  absent  visiting  military  and  other 
communicants  at  different  stations  farther  north 
at  the  time  of  my  visit,  but  some  time  afterward 
I  met  him  in  Sakhalin,  and  was  much  pleased  to 
see  the  great  respect  and  generous  hospitality 
with  which  he  was  treated  by  the  highest  offi- 
cials. He  was  a  capital  specimen  of  the  muscu- 
lar Christian  type;  and  this  he  needed  to  be,  as 
his  tour  of  visitations,  he  told  me,  included  an 
area  of  about  two  thousand  miles. 

.  The  charity  organization  society,  I  was  in- 
formed, was  in  active  working  order,  and  in  a 
minor  degree  extended  its  operations  to  prison- 
ers. Besides  two  free  schools,  there  is  an  excel- 
lent girls'  boarding-school,  and  others  exclu- 
sively for  the  daughters  of  officers.  The  most 
important  of  the  educational  institutions  in  the 
place,  however,  is  the  Boys'  Gymnasium,  which 
is  directly  connected  with  the  higher-class  Gov- 
ernment schools  throughout  the  Empire.  In 
the  upper  grades  of  this  school  all  the  pupils 
are  obliged  to  learn  English,  and  are  fully  pre- 
pared to  enter  upon  professional  studies  in  any 
of  the  Russian  universities. 

13 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

The  telegraph  stations  are  a  matter  of  con- 
spicuous interest  in  Vladivostok.  From  one  of 
them  you  can  send  a  message  to  London  via  Si- 
beria, and  from  the  other  by  the  Great  Northern 
Telegraph  Company  via  Hakodate,  Nagasaki, 
Shanghai,  India,  and  Suez.  The  business  is 
about  equally  divided  between  the  two  lines. 
On  the  Siberian  system  one  wire  is  reserved  ex- 
clusively for  international  messages,  about  two- 
thirds  of  which  are  in  English. 

As  fairly  illustrative  of  the  high  salaries  usu- 
ally paid  to  European  clerks  in  the  Asiatic 
branches  of  European  establishments,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  in  the  English  station  here  a 
telegraph  clerk  begins  with  over  three  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  while  in  the  Russian  service  a 
corresponding  clerk,  being  a  Russian,  begins 
with  less  than  fifty. 

The  great  fact  which  is  to  be  the  starting 
point  of  a  new  era  in  Vladivostok,  and  which  at 
the  time  of  my  visit  was  the  supreme  topic  of 
conversation,  is  the  trans-Siberian  railway,  of 
which  the  town  is  to  be  the  most  easterly  Asiatic 
terminus,  and  Port  Arthur,  for  the  present,  the 
most  southerly.  This  railroad  is  expected  to  af- 
fect immensely  the  trade  of  Vladivostok,  the 
penal  administration  throughout  Siberia,  and 
also  international  commerce. 


14 


CHAPTER    II 

THE   VLADIVOSTOK   PRISON 

My  first  and  greatest  interest  here,  as  in 
other  Siberian  towns,  was  in  the  prisoners  and 
their  treatment. 

According  to  the  republican  spirit  which,  in 
contrast  to  the  rest  of  Siberia,  seems  to  prevail 
in  Vladivostok,  no  questions  had  been  asked  me 
about  my  passport  on  the  day  of  my  arrival. 
As  the  best  way  of  forming  an  acquaintance 
with  the  prison  officials,  however,  I  presented 
it  in  person  to  the  Chief  of  Police,  and  paid  my 
respects  to  him  at  the  same  time.  Though  he 
was  at  first  severely  formal,  his  interest  height- 
ened into  evident  amusement  as  he  glanced  over 
the  document,  which  was  already  so  covered 
with  stamps  and  vises  as  to  leave  no  space  for  the 
important  addition  of  his  own.  After  looking 
at  it  carefully,  he  gradually  relaxed,  and  calling 
for  ''  Passgros,"  courteously  requested  me  to 
smoke  a  cigarette  with  him. 

The  same  evening,  while  I  was  at  dinner, 
the  waiter  handed  me  a  card  with  an  unusual 

15 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

amount  of  deference.  It  was  that  of  the  Chief 
of  Police,  who  promptly  appeared  in  full  official 
regalia  and  as  dapper  as  a  toy  soldier.  I  was 
fortunately  alone,  and  he  was  kind  enough  to 
join  me  at  dessert,  during  which  his  affability 
was  delightful. 

Not  unnaturally  he  asked  me  a  great  many 
questions,  while  I  was  careful  to  ask  very  few, 
and  to  assume  an  air  of  respectful  indifference 
to  everything  except  what  concerned  his  own 
comfort.  It  was  evident  that  he  had  not  yet 
recovered  from  his  amazement  at  my  passport, 
and  at  what  he  called  my  wonderful  travels.  He 
seemed  still  more  surprised  when  I  informed 
him  that  I  represented  nothing  and  nobody  but 
myself,  that  I  was  neither  a  journalist  nor  an 
author,  and  would  never  aspire  to  be  either  the 
one  or  the  other — a  statement  which  was  quite 
true  at  the  time  I  made  it.  I  told  him  that  from 
early  boyhood  I  had  indulged  in  the  notion  that, 
finding  myself  in  this  world,  I  ought  not  will- 
ingly to  go  to  another  until  I  had  thoroughly 
seen  and  studied  it;  that  I  had  long  felt  that  to 
have  a  sympathetic  comprehension  of  the  differ- 
ent forms  of  barbarism,  religion,  and  civilization, 
it  was  of  the  first  importance  to  have  lived  with 
the  peoples  among  which  they  were  respective- 
ly found;  and  that,  simply  for  my  own  educa- 
tion, I  had  been  most  of  the  time  pursuing  this 

i6 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

course  in  a  leisurely  manner  during  the  last 
twenty  years.  Therefore,  as  I  had  visited  most 
of  the  other  more  distant  parts  of  the  Russian 
Empire,  I  had  now  come  to  see  for  myself  the 
latest  example  of  Russian  progress  as  exhibited 
in  the  Primorsk,  my  farthest  objective  point 
being  distant  Yezo,  which  island  I  hoped  to  ex- 
plore from  north  to  south.  The  conclusion  to 
which  he  accordingly  came,  and  which  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  express,  was  that  I  must  be  a  very 
wealthy  as  well  as  a  very  fortunate  man. 

At  the  last  moment  he  reached  the  question 
for  which  I  was  waiting,  "  How  can  I  be  of  any 
use  to  you  in  Vladivostok?  "  And  above  all, 
"  Would  you  care  to  visit  the  prisons?  " 

To  this  last  proposition  I  slowly  assented, 
and  before  we  parted  an  appointment  was  made 
for  this  purpose  for  the  very  next  morning. 

In  negotiating  for  such  an  early  visit,  I  had 
in  view  the  forestalling  of  any  preparation  of  the 
prison  for  my  benefit,  and  thus  insuring  an  ac- 
quaintance with  it  in  its  ordinary  condition. 

I  felt  a  special  interest  in  this  prison,  know- 
ing it  to  be  in  one  respect  unique  among  all  the 
prisons  of  Siberia. 

As  is  known  to  all  readers  of  the  literature 
on  the  subject,  Vladivostok  is  the  one  and  only 
loophole  in  all  Siberia  through  which  by  a  bare 
possibility  a  runaway  exile  may  dream  of  smug- 

17 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

gling  himself  aboard  a  foreign  ship,  on  which,  if 
undetected,  he  may  as  a  stowaway  leave  his  be- 
loved fatherland  and  perchance  within  one 
eventful  hour  become  absolutely  a  free  man. 
It  is  by  this  route  that  some  of  the  best-known 
and  most  influential  Russian  refugees  now  in 
America  and  England  have  succeeded  in  making 
their  escape. 

It  will  be  readily  inferred,  therefore,  that  at 
Vladivostok,  both  in  the  town  and  its  ap- 
proaches, and  particularly  in  the  harbour  and  on 
all  outgoing  ships,  the  vigilance  and  watchful- 
ness of  the  police  are  greater  than  in  any  other 
part  of  Siberia. 

On  a  little  hill  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town, 
whence  the  ships  sail,  there  is  a  stockade.  In- 
side this  is  the  prison  where  unfortunates  baffled 
at  the  supreme  moment  are  promptly  immured. 

The  next  morning,  punctually  at  nine 
o'clock,  the  Prefet  called,  and,  our  droschkis 
starting  off  at  a  bound  at  the  word  "  Pashol,"  we 
were  in  three  or  four  minutes  sharply  halted  at 
the  heavy  unpainted  gates  of  the  huge  stockade 
so  common  to  Siberian  prisons.  On  entering 
the  large  yard,  I  remarked  to  the  Prefet  that  I 
did  not  wish  my  visit  to  be  an  inconvenience,  and 
that  he  must  tell  me  in  advance  what  were  the 
usual  restrictions  to  which  visitors  are  expected 
to  conform. 

i8 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

"  There  are  no  restrictions,"  he  replied;  "  go 
where  you  like,  look  at  what  you  like,  and  ask 
the  prisoners  what  questions  you  like.  That 
you  may  hear  as  much  as  you  can  to  put  over 
against  anything  you  may  be  told  by  officers 
like  myself,  it  may  be  more  convenient  for  you 
if  I  point  out  to  you  some  prisoners  who  can 
talk  German  or  French,  and,  as  I  can't  talk 
either  of  these  languages  very  well,  you  can  have 
your  conversations  all  to  yourselves.  It  is  only 
fair  that  I  put  you  on  your  guard  in  one  particu- 
lar, however,  and  if  you  find  that  I  am  mistaken 
you  may  tell  me  afterward.  You  may  go  all 
through  this  prison,  but  you  will  probably  be 
unable  to  discover  a  single  exile  convict  or  pris- 
oner who  will  admit  that  he  has  done  anything 
wrong,  or  that  he  knows  what  crime  he  has  been 
accused  of  committing.  You  will  probably  find 
that  every  one  of  those  you  talk  with  has  been 
sent  here  by  mistake.  The  greatest  difficulty  a 
Russian  magistrate  has  to  deal  with  is  this:  the 
Russian  prisoner  is  so  certain  to  be  a  liar,  that,  I 
must  admit,  his  own  testimony  is  by  itself  never 
accepted.  The  verdict  of  the  judge  in  every  case 
has  to  be  based  entirely  upon  the  testimony  of 
others,  upon  circumstantial  evidence,  or  upon 
both  combined.  The  prisoner  is  always  allowed 
to  make  his  own  statement,  but  the  judge,  if 
he  has  had  any   experience,   believes   no  part 

4  19 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

of  it  except  what  is  corroborated  by  other  evi- 
dence." 

Within  this  inclosure  were  several  rough 
wooden  sheds  or  houses  of  the  unpainted  Si- 
berian type,  and  a  large  yard  about  which  fifty 
or  sixty  prisoners  were  leisurely  strolling,  re- 
minding one  of  the  yard  of  an  English  work- 
house, except  that  the  inmates  in  this  case  were 
without  uniforms  or  badges,  each  wearing  his 
own  clothes  and  enjoying  his  own  personality. 
The  appearance  of  a  new  face  seemed  to  interest 
them,  for  instead  of  shunning  us  they  mani- 
fested an  inclination  towards  respectful  neigh- 
bourliness, as  they  dofifed  their  caps  and  looked 
expectant,  as  if  hoping  for  a  little  conversation. 

The  front  building  and  the  largest,  where  we 
commenced  our  rounds,  was  used  in  almost  its 
entire  length  as  a  general  lounging  place  alter- 
native to  the  yard.  On  three  sides  it  had  the 
usual  raised  and  inclined  wooden  benches  which 
are  used  universally  in  Russian  barracks  and 
prisons,  and  which  at  night  serve  as  sleeping 
berths.  At  the  time  we  entered  this  room  there 
might  have  been  about  forty  or  fifty  prisoners 
there,  simply  lounging  on  the  benches,  some 
gossiping,  and  some  playing  with  dirty  diminu- 
tive cards. 

From  this  large  room  or  hall  we  entered  a 
large  passage  to  the  left,  flanked  on  either  side 
20    . 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

by  cells.  The  greater  number  of  these  were 
open  and  unoccupied,  but  some  of  those  which 
were  closed  were  unlocked  at  my  request.  Each 
cell  was,  I  should  say,  about  eight  feet  wide  and 
fourteen  feet  long.  Being  entirely  constructed 
of  wood,  and  the  dividing  walls  being  partitions 
that  reached  only  part  of  the  way  to  the  ceiling, 
they  lacked  the  sensation  of  dampness  which 
strikes  a  visitor  in  the  driest  of  stone  cells.  With 
these  partial  divisions,  the  confinement  could 
hardly  be  termed  solitary. 

The  wooden  bunk  in  the  cell  served  both  for 
sleeping  and  sitting,  either  of  which  prisoners 
seemed  free  to  indulge  in  in  their  own  way. 
We  passed  leisurely  from  building  to  building, 
each  of  which  closely  resembled  the  others  in  its 
simple,  wooden,  barrack-like  bareness.  Every- 
where the  furniture  consisted  of  the  same  wood- 
en bunk  only,  except  in  the  general  room  or 
hall,  where  there  was  one  table,  but  no  seats 
other  than  the  bunk. 

Speaking  generally,  there  was  nothing  in  any 
part  of  the  prison  to  impress  a  visitor  with  the 
idea  of  cleanliness,  neatness,  or  method.  Nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  there  apparent  anything 
notably  obnoxious.  The  latrines  at  the  rear 
part  of  the  yard,  however,  were  evidently  al- 
lowed to  be  as  repulsive  as  the  prisoners  chose 
to  make  them.     The  predominant   impression 

21 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  visit,  here 
as  in  Siberian  prisons  generally,  was  one  of  utter 
shiftlessness  in  the  management. 

The  prisoners  themselves  were  certainly  a 
motley  crew.  They  were  free  to  wash  as  much 
as  they  chose,  and,  indeed,  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  wash;  it  appeared,  however,  to  be  gener- 
ally regarded  as  a  sacred  right  to  remain  dirty. 
To  this  there  were,  of  course,  all  sorts  of  excep- 
tions, and  it  was  just  this  personal  freedom,  com- 
bined with  the  retention  of  their  own  clothing, 
which  checkered  this  motley  crowd  with  its  vari- 
ously interesting  or  repulsive  personalities,  and 
which  to  a  shrewd  character  reader  furnished  a 
clew  to  their  respective  histories.  The  promis- 
cuousness  of  this  .  generally  dishevelled  group 
strongly  reminded  me  of  other  groups  which  I 
had  seen  in  days  gone  by,  in  some  temporary 
Northern  prisons,  where  Southern  civilian  rebels 
were  confined  during  the  American  conflict  for 
and  against  secession. 

True  to  his  own  proposal,  made  to  me  on 
entering  the  prison,  the  Prefet  now  purposely 
turned  away,  conversing  with  one  or  two  ward- 
ens, and  left  me  entirely  free  to  wander  about 
in  my  own  way,  and  to  talk  without  restraint 
with  several  of  the  prisoners  who  had  been 
pointed  out  to  me  as  being  able  to  converse  in 
French  or  German. 

22 


The  Vladivostok   Prison 

There  was  no  hindrance  to  this  in  the  shape 
of  shackles,  for,  much  to  my  surprise,  I  had  not 
yet  detected  a  leg  chain,  or  even  a  pair  of  hand- 
cuffs, either  in  use  or  out  of  use,  in  any  part  of 
the  prison. 

My  principal  dif^culty  now  arose  from  the 
prisoners  themselves,  for  at  each  attempt  to  take 
one  of  them  aside  for  the  strictly  private  conver- 
sation I  desired,  the  eagerness  of  others  to  join 
in  was  so  great,  and  the  babel  of  complaints  so 
voluminous,  that,  before  any  one  of  them  could 
make  himself  intelligible,  his  voice  was  almost 
sure  to  be  drowned  in  jargon  and  confusion.  I 
seemed  to  be  regarded  by  these  unfortunates  as 
a  rare  and  heaven-sent  medium,  a  few  moments 
with  whom  might  secure  a  publication  of  their 
wrongs,  so  all  of  them  insisted  on  making  the 
most  of  their  opportunity  at  the  same  moment. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  I  was  inclined 
to  blame  them  for  this,  particularly  in  their  con- 
dition, for  anywhere,  everywhere,  and  in  what- 
ever circumstances,  Russians  are  apt  to  talk  as 
canary-birds  sing,  which  is  not  at  all,  or  all  to- 
gether. 

One  of  the  prisoners  particularly  attracted 
my  attention,  for,  though  evidently  his  only 
comb  and  brush  were  his  fingers,  his  shaggy 
condition  was  painfully  incongruous  with  the  re- 
finement of  his  features  and  bearing. 
23 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

This  prisoner  spoke  capital  French  and  fairly 
good  German,  and,  as  most  of  the  others  did  not 
understand  either  of  these  languages,  he  and  I 
were  able  to  have  our  talk  to  ourselves  undis- 
turbed. When  we  were  out  of  hearing  of  the 
others  this  poor  fellow  informed  me  that  within 
two  hours  of  its  sailing,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
final  police  search,  he  had  been  discovered  in  the 
hold  of  an  American  ship,  where  he  had  hidden 
until  he  was  almost  dead  for  want  of  food,  hav- 
ing, however,  in  the  semi-unconsciousness  of  ex- 
haustion, neglected  the  slight  precaution  of  con- 
cealing his  feet,  which,  sticking  out  from  some 
part  of  the  cargo,  had  betrayed  him. 

In  solemn  confidence  he  then  confessed  to 
me  that  he  was  a  political  exile  who  had  served 
his  good-conduct  term  in  Nertchinsk,  and  with  a 
false  passport,  and  under  various  disguises,  had 
made  his  way  across  the  remaining  part  of  Si- 
beria, managing  finally,  by  adroitness  and  a  little 
bribery,  to  go  out  to  the  ship  on  a  lighter  late 
at  night  as  a  pretended  stevedore.  He  had  de- 
stroyed his  false  passport,  and  any  identification 
or  proof  against  him  prior  to  his  discovery 
must  depend  upon  the  ingenuity  of  the  au- 
thorities. 

He  said  that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  a 
good  many  more  of  his  fellow-prisoners  were 
there  under  similar  conditions,  but  that,  as  they 

24 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

were  all  very  suspicious  of  each  other,  he  was  not 
quite  certain  except  in  one  instance. 

I  felt  very  much  touched  by  the  frankness  of 
this  charming  fellow's  confidence  and  the  sigh  of 
relief  which  followed  his  confession.  Something 
furtively  passed  from  my  waistcoat  pocket  to 
his  hand,  and,  assuming  a  brusque  expression, 
which  I  saw  he  understood,  I  turned  away  with 
a  sad  heart.  The  sense  of  utter  helplessness  on 
such  occasions  is  simply  crushing. 

The  prediction  of  the  Prefet  was  fully  veri- 
fied by  the  other  prisoners  I  interviewed. 
"  What  brings  you  here?  "  "  I  don't  know." 
"  But  what  have  you  done?  "  "  I  don't  know." 
"  How  long  have  you  been  here? "  "  Six 
weeks,"  "  three  months,"  "  five  months,"  would 
be  the  various  answers.  "  But  why  have  you 
not  had  a  trial?  "  "  I  don't  know.  Won't  you 
please  ask  the  Prefet  and  tell  me?  " 

This  prolonged  detention  with  only  occa- 
sional and  repeated  remands,  but  without  final 
trial,  was  on  all  hands  the  supreme  complaint, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  so  entirely  just  and  rea- 
sonable that  I  was  determined  to  try  to  get 
some  explanation  of  it  at  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity. 

Taking  my  own  route,  I  pried  into  every 
nook  and  cranny  for  chains,  plets,  rods,  and  other 
instruments  of  torture,  but,  although  some  were 

25 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

doubtless  available  in  case  of  need,  none  was 
visible. 

The  worst  and  most  degrading  factor  among 
prisoners  merely  under  detention  is  the  enforced 
idleness,  the  herding  together  of  so  many  with- 
out anything  whatever  to  occupy  them.  The 
demoralization  of  the  prisoners  resulting  from 
this  is  the  prime  source  of  insubordination  and 
outbreak  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other, 
of  the  alleged  acts  of  cruelty  by  the  officers  who 
are  held  responsible  for  order.  I  heard  after- 
ward that,  incident  to  this  lax  condition  of 
things,  the  prison  wardens  were  very  susceptible 
to  bribery.  I  received  no  specific  proofs  on  this 
point,  but  under  the  circumstances  it  was  easily 
possible. 

The  Prefet,  when  told  that  I  had  seen  all 
I  desired  to  see,  positively  thanked  me  for  the 
interest  I  had  taken  in  his  department.  He  went 
farther:  he  ordered  the  droschki  to  stop  at  a  hotel 
nearer  than  my  own,  and  insisted  that  I  should 
do  him  the  favour  of  joining  him  at  a  luncheon 
he  had  already  ordered.  He  begged  me  to  tell 
him  without  reserve  the  impressions  made  upon 
me  by  my  visit  to  the  prison,  and  also  to  ask 
any  questions  which  might  occur  to  me  concern- 
ing the  general  penal  administration  at  Vladi- 
vostok. 

The  questions  I  did  ask  may  be  inferred  from 
26 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

a  brief  report  of  the  Prefet's  more  interesting 
answers. 

"  Your  questions,"  he  said,  "about  the  pro- 
longed detentions  without  a  final  trial,  also 
about  the  institution  of  habeas  corpus,  are  very 
large  questions  indeed,  and  very  pertinent.  In 
older  and  more  completely  organized  countries 
habeas  corpus  is  invaluable,  though  even  in  such 
countries,  not  only  in  the  United  States  but  in 
England  also,  there  have  been  times  when  this 
process  has  had  to  be  suspended.  Between 
these  countries  and  Russia  the  differences  are  so 
great  that  your  reasonings  from  analogy  may 
lead  to  very  false  and  unjust  conclusions. 

"  In  Russia,  under  our  present  conditions, 
we  think  it  less  deplorable  that  a  few  innocent 
persons  should  suffer  by  mistake  than  that  the 
whole  body  of  citizens  and  the  Government  it- 
self should  be  in  perpetual  peril  as  a  result  of 
undue  leniency. 

"  Look  at  the  facts  as  they  exist  to-day  right 
here  in  Vladivostok.  You  think  you  have  dis- 
covered that  a  large  proportion  of  the  prisoners 
you  have  seen  and  talked  with  this  morning 
have  already  been  there  for  an  unreasonable 
period,  and  that  a  still  larger  number  are  there 
without  knowing  the  crime  that  is  alleged 
against  them,  and  are  therefore  without  means 
of  meeting  any  charge  when  it  may  be  made 
27 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

against  them  in  open  court.  I  will  allow  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument  that  this  is  true,  and,  as 
you  say,  as  sad  as  it  is  true. 

"  Now  let  us  look  at  the  other  side — my 
side,  we  will  say.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  to  one 
who  knows  Siberia  so  well  as  you  do  that  if 
Vladivostok  is  allowed  to  become  a  free  port  of 
exit  for  fugitives,  then  good-bye  to  the  coloni- 
zation of  Siberia! 

"  If  a  fugitive  succeeds  in  escaping,  who  is 
it  that  gets  reprimanded?  Myself.  If  at  differ- 
ent times  several  escape,  who  is  it  that  is  per- 
manently disgraced — perhaps  cashiered?  My- 
self. Now  then,  how  am  I  to  prevent  such  es- 
capes? 

"  Every  Russian  absent  from  home  knows 
full  well  that  he  must  always  be  ready  to  pro- 
duce his  true  passport.  Whenever  we  find  such 
a  person,  whose  passport  appears  suspicious,  or 
who  is  without  one,  whether  we  have  been  put 
on  his  track  or  not,  we  take  that  fact  as  a  crime, 
a  negative  one  if  you  will,  but  in  the  eye  of  the 
law  a  crime  for  all  that. 

"  On  finding  such  a  person,  therefore,  we  put 
him  for  safe-keeping  into  the  prison  you  have 
just  visited  until  either  he  or  we  can  satisfy  the 
court  as  to  his  identity  and  history.  This  pris- 
on, then,  is  perhaps  chiefly  a  House  of  Deten- 
tion. 

28 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

"  If  such  a  person  is  innocent,  it  is  generally 
a  very  easy  matter  for  him  to  furnish  proof  of 
his  innocence  within  a  comparatively  short  time. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  his  forged,  exchanged,  or 
lost  passport  is  a  mere  cover  and  part  of  a  fraud- 
ulent disguise,  the  procuring  of  an  authentic 
identification  and  history  of  him  by  ourselves  is, 
as  he  knows  and  as  he  intends  it  to  be,  a  tedious, 
difficult,  and  sometimes  an  impossible  task.  He 
may  have  zigzagged  his  way  with  different 
passports  and  under  different  names  for  thou- 
sands of  miles  through  the  wildest  parts  of 
Siberia.  Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  amount  of 
correspondence  and  time  required  before  an 
authenticated  history  of  such  a  man  can  be 
presented  in  court  against  him." 

"  Now,  Monsieur  le  Prefet,  suppose  the 
prisoner  confesses  nothing  and  the  court  dis- 
covers nothing,  say  for  many  months,  what  is 
the  upshot  of  it  all?  " 

"Ah!"  said  the  Prefet,  "now  you  have 
struck  the  one  object  of  the  trick.  The  prison- 
ers all  know  that  in  such  an  event  they  can  only 
be  convicted  as  '  vagabonds.'  For  this  the  se- 
verest sentence  the  law  allows  is  a  comparatively 
light  one.  It  is  thus  that  some  of  the  cleverest 
and  most  dangerous  murderers  and  other  exiles 
have  managed  to  elude  a  life  sentence,  and  to 
get  off  with  the  milder  and  shorter  one  which, 
29 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

in  spite  of  our  better  judgment,  the  law  compels 
us  in  such  case  to  substitute  for  it. 

"  Why,"  continued  my  host,  ''  you  know  as 
well  as  I  do  that  all  through  Siberia  there  are 
convicts  who  are  just  as  much  '  professionals  ' 
in  this  '  Brodyas  '  or  runaway  business  as  were 
some  of  the  soldiers  in  the  American  army,  or 
in  the  bounty-jumping  business;  and  it  is  exact- 
ly the  most  dangerous  who  are  the  most  clever 
at  it.  Some  of  these  fellows  who  have  managed 
to  exchange  a  life  passport  for  a  '  vagabond's 
passport '  will  sell  it  for  a  good  sum  in  exchange 
for  another  Hfe-sentence  passport,  and,  trusting 
to  their  clever  devices,  will  go  on  repeating  their 
trick  again  and  again  in  far-distant  localities, 
thus  making  considerable  sums  of  money. 
These  are  the  rascals  who,  according  to  circum- 
stances, can  be  the  most  craven  of  beggars  and 
the  most  cruel  of  murderers.  When  hard 
pressed  they  stop  at  nothing.  They  are  the 
brigands  of  Siberia." 

"  And  may  I  ask.  Monsieur  le  Prefet,  what 
you  do  with  one  of  this  class  when  you  at  last 
succeed  in  convicting  him?  " 

"  Do  with  him?  We  send  him  out  of  the 
world." 

"  But  I  was  not  aware  that  Russian  criminal 
law  authorized  either  hanging  or  shooting,  or 
any  form  of  punishment  certain  to  prove  fatal." 
30 


The  Vladivostok   Prison 

"  Just  so — you  are  quite  right.  But  as  you 
seem  anxious  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  ques- 
tion, I  may  tell  you  that  we  have  a  place  which 
is  a  sort  of  purgatory  for  these  fellows.  There 
the  career  of  a  '  Brodyas  '  is  hopelessly  extin- 
guished. 

"  Many  hundred  miles  from  here,  out  in  the 
Okhotsk  Sea,  there  is  an  island  which  on  the 
maps  is  named  Saghalien,  or  Sakhalin.  Among 
the  people  it  is  called  Ostrov  Proklyatuick,  or 
*  Isle  of  the  Lost.*  There  a  false  passport  is  not 
worth  the  trouble  of  writing  it.  Passport  or  no 
passport,  it's  all  the  same  there." 

The  Prefet  had  kindly  offered  to  supply  me 
with  a  guide  at  any  time  I  might  wish  to  visit 
First  River  Village,  an  exile  settlement  founded 
by  a  former  philanthropic  Governor  in  a  pretty 
little  valley  only  about  three  or  four  miles  from 
Vladivostok,  where  he  placed  certain  people 
whom  he  selected  from  the  gangs  which  were 
passing  through  his  hands  en  route  to  Sakhalin. 

I  declined  the  offer,  because  I  have  found 
that  no  traveller  can  learn  what  is  most  worth 
knowing  in  foreign  countries  if  he  goes  as  one 
of  a  party,  but  went  with  my  interpreter  instead. 

As  we  entered  the  village,  I  noticed  at  the 
end  of  a  cottage  garden  a  woman  milking  her 
cow.  So,  taking  a  seat  on  a  very  dirty  old 
wheel-barrow,  I  said  to  her,  "  If  you  saw  a  poor 

31 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

man  who  had  not  had  his  breakfast,  would  you 
be  wilHng  to  sell  him  a  glass  of  your  new  milk?  " 

With  a  humorous  smile  she  replied,  ''  If  he 
were  poor  I  would  sell  it  to  him  at  five  kopecks 
a  glass;  if  he  were  rich  I  would  give  it  to  him 
for  nothing,  because  then  his  Honour  would 
give  me  at  least  ten  kopecks  for  it." 

I  helped  her  to  carry  her  bucket  to  her  kitch- 
en, and  she  immediately  strained  some  milk  for 
me,  placed  a  pitcher  of  it,  with  a  couple  of  glass- 
es, on  a  little  rustic  table  under  a  trellised  vine 
which  shaded  her  doorway,  and  became  as  so- 
ciable as  I  could  wish. 

The  story  of  her  exile,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
get  it,  was  this:  Her  husband  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  Imperial  Guards,  in  the  main  an  excellent 
man,  if  convivial  in  his  tastes.  But  during  a 
bout  with  some  of  his  companions  a  drunken 
quarrel  occurred,  and  blows  were  exchanged, 
from  one  of  which  his  opponent  afterward  died. 
For  this  he  was  sentenced  to  Siberia,  where, 
like  thousands  of  other  wives,  she  chose  to  ac- 
company him  at  Government  expense. 

They  had  been  allowed  to  build  their  own 
house  in  their  own  way,  with  the  help  of  their 
neighbours  and  with  the  tools  which  the  Gov- 
ernment lent  them  for  the  purpose.  Their 
clothing  and  food  rations  had  been  supplied  to 
them  the  same  as  if  they  were  in  prison,  and  later 
32 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

on,  when  they  preferred  it,  they  had  been  al- 
lowed to  receive  a  money  commutation  instead. 
The  clothing  provided  for  all  once  a  year  con- 
sisted of  a  sheepskin  coat,  under-linen,  three 
pairs  of  summer  shoes,  two  pairs  of  winter  boots, 
and  occasionally  a  long  winter  overcoat. 

With  the  pride  of  a  good  housekeeper  she 
showed  me  through  every  part  of  her  house,  the 
condition  of  which  was  certainly  greatly  to  her 
credit. 

As  her  children  were  about  eight  and  ten 
years  of  age,  I  smiled  as  I  called  her  attention 
to  a  very  clumsy  wooden  cradle  swinging  from 
the  end  of  a  pliable  pole  in  the  front  room. 
Poor  woman!  On  looking  over  my  shoulder 
when  I  left  the  room,  I  caught  her  wiping  her 
eyes  with  a  corner  of  her  coarse  apron;  I  could 
see  that  I  had  cruelly  awakened  a  sleeping  sor- 
row which  time  had  not  effaced. 

Turning  again  into  the  overstocked  but 
slovenly  kept  flower  garden,  she  informed  me 
that  her  husband  had  a  good  situation  in  one 
of  the  principal  stores  in  Vladivostok,  and  that 
the  bulk  of  the  farm  work  was  therefore  done  by 
herself,  the  produce  being  readily  sold  at  good 
prices  in  the  town. 

The  neatness,  brightness,  and  cheerful  con- 
tent in  this  little  convict  homestead  were  cer- 
tainly equal  to  anything  I  had  found  in  the  home 

33 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

of  any  free  colonist  of  a  corresponding  station 
in  life  in  any  part  of  Russia,  and  were  such  as 
might  provoke  the  envy  of  many  a  Western  set- 
tler in  America. 

I  next  visited  a  long  wooden  building  four 
or  five  times  larger  than  most  of  the  village  cot- 
tages. It  occupied  the  centre  of  a  large  clear- 
ing, had  no  garden,  no  allotment,  not  even  a 
fence  around  it,  and  looked  rather  like  a  general 
store-house.  I  found  that  it  was  simply  a  one- 
storied  tenement,  divided  up  into  four  or  five 
separate  residences,  which  had  evidently  been 
put  up  to  meet  some  later  requirement. 

The  door  of  the  end  residence  being  wide 
open,  I  mounted  the  rather  high  steps  leading 
to  it,  and  was  cordially  greeted  by  a  superior- 
looking  man  who  courteously  invited  me  inside, 
promptly  lighted  up  the  samovar,  set  out  glasses 
and  sliced  a  lemon,  drew  up  a  couple  of  chairs, 
and,  without  question  or  apology,  proceeded  to 
prepare  the  never-failing  tchai  or  tea  which 
every  Russian,  however  poor,  is  always  ready  to 
offer  to  his  guest. 

Though  the  interior  was  entirely  of  roughly 
hewn  timbers  and  planks,  there  was  on  every 
hand  some  simple  little  thing  or  other  which 
either  by  its  style  or  arrangement  inspired  me 
with  unavoidable  respect  for  the  personality  of 
its  occupant.  In  every  part  of  his  rough  apart- 
34 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

ment  were  little  revelations  of  good-breeding. 
His  muddy  boots  at  the  door  were  placed  as 
they  would  be  by  a  gentleman;  his  hat  and  coat 
were  hung  on  wooden  pegs;  his  simple  writing 
materials  were  placed  neatly  and  ready  for  in- 
stant use;  and  even  the  cuspidor  had  a  carved 
wooden  cover  which  concealed  its  use  and  con- 
verted it  into  an  ornament.  His  person  bore  the 
signs  of  which  these  things  were  the  counterpart. 
His  blouse,  though  coarse,  was  clean,  and  the 
rough  leather  waist-belt  compressed  its  shape- 
lessness  into  neatly  plaited  folds.  His  manner, 
though  shy  and  diffident,  as  that  of  exiles  gen- 
erally, was  quiet,  easy,  respectful,  and  dig- 
nified. 

He  seemed  very  much  pleased  at  the  inter- 
est I  took  in  the  numerous  photographs  and 
prints  which  relieved  the  roughness  of  the  walls. 
If  I  could  judge  from  his  changing  expression 
as  he  pointed  some  of  them  out  to  me,  they  were 
precious  mementos  linking  the  sad  present  to  a 
once  hopeful  past. 

The  sum  of  what  I  gathered  from  him  dur- 
ing our  long  chat  was  of  quite  a  different  nature 
from  the  story  I  have  just  recounted.  He  was 
one  of  the  several  unmarried  political  exiles  for 
whose  accommodation  this  long  tenement  build- 
ing had  been  specially  erected.  After  gradu- 
ating at  a  technological  school  in  St.  Peters- 
'  35 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

burg,  he  had  secured  an  appointment  as  an 
engineer.  A  friend  of  his,  who  had  never  di- 
vulged to  him  the  fact  that  he  was  a  nihiHst, 
had  secured  his  help  in  the  construction  of  cer- 
tain electrical  apparatus,  which  might  have  been 
intended  for  a  dozen  different  purposes.  He 
confined  his  attention  simply  to  the  details  of 
its  mechanism,  remaining  entirely  ignorant  of 
the  specific  use  for  which  his  friend  intended  it. 
Thus  was  he  dragged  into  the  network  of  a  po- 
litical plot. 

To  the  detectives  who  had  discovered  both 
plot  and  conspirators  and  traced  the  appara- 
tus in  question,  his  protestations  of  ignorance 
seemed  absurd;  to  the  court  which  tried  him 
his  allegations  of  innocence  were  incredible. 

Condemned  to  penal  servitude  for  life,  he  at 
last  reached  Nickolaivsk  en  route  to  Sakhalin. 
It  happened  just  then  that  an  engineer  was  want- 
ed very  much  in  Vladivostok,  where  all  kinds  of 
Government  works  were  then  being  rapidly 
pushed  forward.  He  had  continued  to  work 
there  ever  since.  He  told  me  that  he  lived  rent 
free,  and  at  the  present  time  was  receiving  from 
the  Government  ten  roubles  a  week  besides  the 
money  commutation  for  his  rations  and  Govern- 
ment clothing,  and  that,  if  he  could  only  become 
oblivious  of  the  police  espionage  and  the  restric- 
tions common  to  all  persons  in  his  position,  his 

36 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

life  might  be  regarded  not  only  as  tolerable,  but 
as  exceptionally  comfortable. 

Though  he  did  not  hesitate  to  express  his 
chagrin  at  the  complete  injustice  of  his  situa- 
tion, his  indignation  seemed  to  be  directed 
against  his  false  friends  rather  than  against  the 
Government.  The  attitude  of  the  citizens  of 
Vladivostok  towards  him,  he  said,  was  one  of 
sympathy  and  respect,  but,  as  he  was  obliged  to 
be  at  home  at  the  prescribed  hours,  he  rarely 
had  an  opportunity  of  mingling  with  them  in 
their  frequent  entertainments. 

In  Monsieur  T I  found  an  entire  free- 
dom from  the  sullen  and  suspecting  mood  exiles 
so  commonly  exhibit,  and  this  I  attributed  in 
part  to  his  comparative  freedom  and  in  part  to 
his  consciousness  of  what  I  believed  to  be  his 
entire  innocence. 

The  special  fascination  which  grew  more  and 
more  the  longer  I  stayed  with  him  arose  largely, 
perhaps,  from  a  delicate  and  refined  self-suppres- 
sion not  uncommonly  found  in  cultured  mem- 
bers of  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood,  and 
which  unconsciously  grows  upon  those  who  for 
a  long  period  lead  lives  of  forced  or  voluntary 
self-abnegation.  It  is  a  curious  phenomenon, 
but  in  him,  as  in  many  others,  this  manner  was 
unavoidably  suggestive  of  inherent  superiority. 

It  became  known  among  my  Russian  friends 

37 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

in  Vladivostok  that,  on  leaving  there,  I  purposed 
to  explore  the  volcanic  island  of  Yezo,  begin- 
ning if  possible  at  Cape  Soya  at  the  north  and 
finishing  at  Hakodate  in  the  south.  Judging 
from  the  charts  in  my  possession,  I  thought 
that  my  better  course  would  be  to  manage,  if 
possible,  to  reach  Sakhalin,  and  thence  to  strike 
Soya  by  crossing  in  some  way  the  Straits  of  La 
Perouse. 

Some  of  my  naval  friends  thought  this  proj- 
ect practicable,  others  not.  I  soon  learned  the 
many  reasons  why  all  previous  Siberian  travel- 
lers had  quite  failed  to  get  as  far  as  Sakhalin, 
and  that  since  the  publication  of  some  of  the 
articles  by  Mr.  Kennan,  the  official  prohibitions 
were  even  more  strict  than  before. 

With  great  regret  I  was  preparing  to  aban- 
don the  project  when  a  part  of  the  problem  re- 
ceived a  most  easy  solution. 

As  I  have  fully  given  the  details  in  my  Life 
with  Trans-Siberian  Savages,*  I  will  simply  re- 
mark here  that  this  solution  came  to  me  at  a 
dinner  party  to  which  just  then  I  was  luckily  in- 
vited. 

At  the  dinner  I  happened  to  be  seated  next 
to  a  remarkably  genial  Russian  prince,  to  whom 
I  mentioned  my  wish  towards  the  end  of  the 

*  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1893. 

38. 


The  Vladivostok  Prison 

dinner.  This  led  to  his  introducing  me  to  a  mili- 
tary officer  who  sat  directly  opposite  us.  To  my 
astonishment  and  delight  I  found  that  this  offi- 
cer was  none  other  than  the  Governor  of  the 
southern  part  of  Sakhalin,  who  resided  at  Kor- 
sakoffsk,  the  very  place  to  which  I  wished  to  go. 
Before  the  evening  was  over,  this  same  Governor 
and  myself  were  warm  friends.  He  told  me 
that  he  had  been  taking  his  annual  holiday  in 
Vladivostok,  and  that,  his  time  being  up,  he 
was  about  to  return  to  his  post  as  soon  as  the 
steamer  was  ready  to  take  him  back  to  his  soli- 
tude. He  no  sooner  discovered  that  I  would 
like  to  extend  my  hands  in  that  direction  than 
he  took  me  bodily  in  his  arms  and  overwhelmed 
me  with  the  most  effusive  invitations  to  go  right 
along  with  him  and  be  his  guest  as  long  as  ever 
I  would  stay.  This  circumstance  was  so  fortu- 
itous that  I  almost  felt  mistrustful  of  it,  thinking 
it  might  be  simply  an  outburst  of  after-dinner 
exuberance  which  would  be  entirely  forgotten 
the  next  morning.  Early  on  the  following  day 
I  was  consulting  Kunst  &  Albers,  my  banking 
agents,  about  the  possible  reliability  of  this  sur- 
prising postprandial  invitation,  when  who  should 
enter  the  office  but  this  very  officer,  who  also  was 
one  of  their  customers.  He  quickly  showed  that 
he  had  not  forgotten  me,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  project  was  arranged  on  a  basis  which  made 

39 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

it  possible  for  me  to  accept  the  invitation  heart- 
ily and  without  any  misgiving. 

My  banker  happened  to  have  previously 
looked  over  my  letter  of  credit,  and,  apparently 
impressed  by  the  amount  of  it,  seemed  only  too 
pleased  to  act  as  our  intermediary. 

I  informed  my  astonished  landlord,  Tissier, 
of  the  invitation,  and  of  my  arrangements  for 
an  unlimited  period  in  Sakhalin  en  route  to 
Yezo.  He  undertook  with  great  enthusiasm 
the  details  for  the  embarkation,  and  seemed  to 
regard  my  situation  as  highly  dramatic. 


40 


CHAPTER    III 

TO    SAKHALIN 

Early  the  next  morning  a  boy  came  to  my 
room  in  great  haste  with  a  Httle  bit  of  Hght- 
brown  paper  on  which  was  scrawled,  "  Baikall 
in.  Starts  in  two  or  three  hours  or  as  soon  as 
ready.  Am  sending  the  colonel's  baggage 
aboard.    Tissier." 

Within  ten  minutes  my  baggage  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  porter,  and  I  on  the  way  to 
Kunst  &  Albers  with  a  strong  little  valise  to  be 
loaded  with  silver  roubles. 

Directly  after  my  noon  dejeuner  I  took  a 
boat  which  was  waiting  for  me  at  a  little  landing 
nearly  opposite  the  hotel  and  rowed  out  to  the 
steamship  Baikall,  where  I  found  that  one  of 
the  best  and  largest  cabins  had  already  been  as- 
signed to  me.  As  is  my  custom  on  going  aboard 
a  ship,  I  immediately  arranged  myself  and  my 
belongings  so  as  to  have  nothing  to  do  after 
starting.  I  then  awaited  the  arrival  of  my  friend 
the  Governor  and  the  captain  of  the  vessel. 

Two  o'clock,  four  o'clock,  and  then  six 
41 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

o^clock  came,  but  with  Siberian  punctuality 
neither  colonel  nor  captain  had  arrived,  caus- 
ing me  to  fear  that  perhaps  at  last  there  had 
been  a  change  of  orders  both  for  sailing  and 
destination. 

About  half-past  six,  however,  my  fears  were 
put  at  rest  by  the  arrival  alongside  of  several 

boats  in  which  were   Colonel   S ,   Captain 

Limaschersky,  several  military  officers,  and  Mr. 
Schouvaloff,  who,  with  an  old  friend  of  mine,  a 
Mr.  Tartsoff  of  Tientsin,  was  going  to  have  an 
interview  with  General  Kononovitch,  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Alexandrovsk,  on  some  mat- 
ters which  Mr.  Tartsoff  told  me  were  of  very 
great  importance. 

By  seven  we  got  under  way  and  at  once  din- 
ner was  announced.  As  usual  everywhere  under 
these  circumstances,  everybody  who  was  a  bad 
sailor  was  anxious  to  "  make  sure  "  of  laying  in 
a  good  stock  of  food  while  capable  of  it.  Being 
myself  a  good  sailor,  and  having  been  told  of  the 
currents  we  should  soon  encounter,  I  was  mod- 
estly careful  to  do  exactly  the  contrary. 

On  the  second  day  the  weather  continued 
fine,  but  as  we  got  clear  from  the  shelter  of  the 
mainland  and  well  out  into  the  Sea  of  Japan,  we 
began  to  encounter  the  northeastern  current, 
which  with  steadily  increasing  force  was  bound 
to  be  exactly  dead  ahead  of  us  all  the  way  to  the 
42 


To  Sakhalin 

bay  of  Aniva.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  day- 
squally  weather  set  in,  accompanied  by  the  kind 
of  cross  seas  frequently  met  with  between  Hull 
and  Stockholm. 

At  the  appointed  time  the  humorous  stew- 
ard ironically  rang  a  brass  bell  to  call  yesterday's 
convivial  guests  to  dinner,  but  not  a  cabin  door 
opened.  The  captain  and  myself  alone  respond- 
ed to  the  call.  The  third  day  brought  into 
view  the  unfamed  but  wonderful  Island  Rishiri- 
shima. 

This  island  is  about  ten  miles  in  length  and 
consists  of  a  single  conical  mountain,  its  uni- 
form sides  sweeping  in  beautiful  curve  to  its 
apex,  a  height  of  about  six  thousand  feet,  giv- 
ing it  a  monumental  appearance  almost  unique 
among  the  islands  of  the  world.  Though  it  is 
a  good  way  out  at  sea  from  the  principal  island 
of  Japan,  and  is  the  first  part  of  the  Empire 
which  comes  into  view  from  the  Siberian  direc- 
tion, had  I  seen  it  in  any  other  part  of  the  world 
it  would  instantly  have  suggested  Japan  to  my 
mind.  In  Vesuvius,  Tenerifife,  the  Lebanon, 
and  at  St.  Lucia  we  have  various  approxima- 
tions, but  the  divine  Fuji-Yama  is  Queen. 

Throughout  this  sunny  day  the  view  of  Ris- 
hiri-shima  was  a  heavenly  enchantment,  and  I 
wondered  I  had  not  heard  of  its  existence. 

At  first,  above  a  map  of  clouds,  appeared  an 
43 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

iridescent  white  cone  clear-cut  against  a  deep 
blue,  with  a  fleecy  white  pennon  floating  at  its 
apex.  Later  the  bank  of  cloud  was  riven,  and  as 
the  sun  gained  power  the  entire  outline  of  the 
mountain  was  completely  revealed,  the  general 
effect  recalling  the  enchanting  phenomenon  in 
chiaroscuro  to  be  seen  sometimes  at  the  Taj- 
Mahal,  when  the  gorgeous  reflection  from  the 
setting  sun  yields  to  the  rival  light  of  a  rising 
moon,  till  this  incomparable  mausoleum  be- 
comes a  silent  ghostly  presence  palpitating  with 
life.  In  my  intense  and  loving  admiration  of 
Fuji,  I  have  lived  where,  from  my  balcony,  I 
could  follow  her  changeful  aspects  from  hour  to 
hour,  by  day  or  by  night,  through  all  the  vary- 
ing seasons  of  the  year;  yet,  even  to  my  Japan- 
ese friends,  I  venture  to  commend  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  still  more  delicate  spirituality  of 
her  almost  unknown  sister  at  the  blending  of  the 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Tartary  and  of  the  Japanese 
Sea.  Compared  with  many  other  mountain 
shrines,  Rishiri-shima,  with  her  brighter  inspi- 
ration, will  some  day  come  to  be  regarded,  I 
think,  as  the  most  beautiful  in  the  Empire. 

We  afterward  passed  another  Japanese  is- 
land, Rebunshiri-shima,  and  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing were  off  the  Straits  of  La  Perouse.  On  the 
fourth  morning  we  sighted  Cape  Nossyass,  the 
most  northerly  point  of  the  island  of  Yezo,  and 
44 


To  Sakhalin 

later  on  Cape  Crillon,  the  first  point  of  the  land 
for  which  we  were  bound. 

An  impressive  feature  of  this  voyage,  and 
one  which  indeed  continued  to  the  very  end, 
was  its  solitude.  From  the  deck  of  our  ship  not 
once  did  we  catch  sight  or  sign  of  a  single  living 
thing. 

Everybody  being  now  on  deck  and  employed 
in  becoming  acquainted  with  everybody  else,  I 
became  conscious  that  I  was  being  regarded  as 
a  very  rare  bird  in  those  regions,  k  My  friend, 

Governor  S ,  who  seemed  to  know  nearly 

every  one  on  board,  introduced  me  all  around, 
always  explaining  that  I  was  travelling  with  him 
to  Korsakoffsk,  where  I  was  to  be  his  guest 
through  the  summer. 

He  was  a  most  soldierly  looking  man,  stand- 
ing full  six  feet  two,  and  straight  as  an  arrow, 
with  a  handsome  face,  clean  shaven,  glowing 
with  robust  health.  As  impulsive  as  a  child,  he 
could  be  by  turns  just  as  affectionate  and  just 
as  tyrannical.  He  greatly  resembled  the  Ger- 
man premier  Caprivi,  and  never  failed  to  give 
an  extra  twirl  to  his  mustache  when  reminded 
of  it. 

Captain  T ,  the  commander  of  the  Bai- 

kall,  was  a  dark  little  man,  with  a  simply  uncon- 
trollable vivacity.  He  had  no  time  for  a  single 
thought  about  himself,  so  constantly  was  he 
45 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

thinking  of  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  others. 
In  his  versatility  he  was  almost  a  match  for  my 
friend  Tissier  of  Vladivostok,  both  being  of  a 
type  only  to  be  found  in  the  more  remote  cor- 
ners of  creation,  where  one  would  be  least  likely 
to  look  for  them. 

Born  in  one  of  the  more  northern  ports  of 
Norway,  trained  as  an  engineer  and  as  a  sailor, 
he  had  visited  most  of  the  ports  of  the  world. 
Arriving  one  day  at  Nickolaivsk,  he  became  a 
Russian  subject,  and  from  first  to  last  had  been 
the  only  commander  of  the  Baikall.  He  was 
equally  fluent  in  French,  German,  and  Russian, 
and  spoke  English  with  remarkable  accuracy. 
What  he  did  not  know  about  this  region  nobody 
knew,  and  anybody  he  did  not  know  was  no- 
body. We  talked  together  on  nearly  every 
question,  both  general  and  those  which  a  Rus- 
sian would  usually  evade,  yet  he  always  ex- 
pressed himself  with  a  freedom  more  character- 
istic of  an  American.  His  fund  of  personal 
knowledge  of  the  early  settlement  of  Sakhalin 
I  have  not  found  equalled  by  any  other  person. 
Though  a  martinet  as  a  commander,  in  the 
smallest  as  well  as  in  the  largest  sense,  Captain 
T was  everybody's  friend. 

My  old  friend  Mr.  Tartsoff,  of  Tientsin,  was 
one  of  the  most  important  passengers  aboard. 
A  Russian  merchant  prince,  he  had  the  principal 

46 


To  Sakhalin 

monopoly  of  the  tea  caravan  trade  between  the 
Chinese  city  and  Russia.  Whether  on  com- 
merce or  pontics,  his  views  appeared  to  be  as 
large  and  as  sound  as  his  experience.  For  his 
service  to  Russian  commerce  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion he  had  been  decorated  by  the  Emperor 
in  person  at  St.  Petersburg.  It  was  in  connec- 
tion with  an  important  question  touching  a  pos- 
sible Russian  extension  in  the  direction  of  Korea, 
of  which  he  gave  me  many  details,  that  he  and 
Mr.  Schouvaloff,  the  official  administrator  of  the 
Baikall,  were  going  to  Alexandrovsk.  Mr. 
Schouvaloff  was  both  gracious  and  generous. 
He  begged  me  to  continue  my  trip  with  himself 
and  Mr.  Tartsoff  as  his  guest  as  far  as  Dui, 
where  he  said  that  he  could  insure  me  every  hos- 
pitality. In  view  of  my  being  an  ex-military 
officer  in  a  foreign  regular  service,  he  kindly 
authorized  the  captain  to  charge  me  only  offi- 
cer's rates,  et  cetera,  then  and  at  any  future  time 
I  should  be  travelling  on  the  Baikall,  and  all  this 
after  only  the  short  acquaintance  which  had  com- 
menced since  our  departure  from  Vladivostok. 

The  few  other  passengers  on  board  were  offi- 
cers going  to  their  military  posts,  and  one  Rus- 
sian, who  was  not  an  official,  but  a  wealthy  mer- 
chant, of  whom  I  may  mention  something  of 
interest  later  on.  He  was  quite  free,  but  only 
within  a  certain  area. 

47 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

In  what  other  country  in  the  world  would 
an  unknown  stranger  have  been  treated  with 
such  unaffected  cordiality  and  generosity  on 
such  short  acquaintance? 

Looking  carefully  through  the  saloon  as 
well  as  on  deck  and  in  the  forecastle,  I  did  not 
find  a  single  Russian  on  board  who  had  either 
dark  eyes  or  a  Roman  nose.  These  features  I 
have  found  extremely  rare  in  all  companies  of 
Russians  from  any  part  of  the  Empire  north  of 
the  Caucasus.  The  thick,  foreshortened,  re- 
trousse nose,  and  the  gray  colour  of  the  eye, 
so  prevalent  among  the  northern  Russians,  I 
judge  to  be  referable  to  their  Gothic  origin. 
I  think  that  I  have  not  seen  these  features  in 
a  single  instance  among  the  full-blooded  Tar- 
tars. 

From  what  I  have  said  of  my  fellow-travel- 
lers it  may  easily  be  imagined  that,  with  finer 
weather,  smoother  water,  and  Korsakoffsk  near 
at  hand,  we  became  quite  a  genial  party. 

At  luncheon  on  that  third  day,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  superfluous  dinner  at  starting, 
every  person  took  his  place,  and  all  seemed  in- 
clined to  make  amends  for  past  delinquencies. 
Nearly  everybody's  health  was  drunk,  including 
that  of  the  Emperor,  of  the  Queen  of  England, 
and  of  the  President  of  the  United  States;  and 
as  for  the  rough  voyage,  nobody  "  had  minded 

48 


To  Sakhalin 

it  a  bit ";  indeed,  they  had  "  quite  enjoyed  it! " 
I  was  glad  of  this  information. 

Promenading  the  deck  after  luncheon  with 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  ship,  I  remarked  on  the 
exceptional  efficiency  of  the  boatswain,  and  ex- 
pressed my  surprise  at  the  excellence  of  the  rest 
of  his  crew  in  this  distant  region,  where  skilled 
labour  must  be  so  hard  to  obtain. 

He  gave  me  a  smile  and  a  nudge  which  was 
plainly  an  invitation  to  the  other  end  of  the 
deck.    When  out  of  hearing,  he  said: 

"  You  admired  that  boatswain  of  ours? 
Well,  you  are  quite  right,  he  is  the  best  man 
on  the  ship — worth  at  least  three  of  any  ordi- 
nary seamen  you  might  come  across  anywhere; 
that  is,  if  you  know  how  to  manage  him.  Like 
nearly  all  the  rest  of  the  crew,  that  man  is  a 
life  convict.  Of  course  we  don't  speak  about 
it,  but  at  different  times  that  peaceful-looking 
chap  has  murdered  no  less  than  three  men;  yet 
I  never  have  any  trouble  with  him,  and  a  better 
man  for  getting  work  out  of  the  others  under 
him  I  don't  want. 

"  You  ask  me  why  doesn't  he  run  away? 
And  if  he  is  a  reliable  and  a  safe  man  to  have 
about?  Why  not?  The  military  guards  always 
on  duty  on  the  boat  understand  their  duty;  none 
of  these  fellows  can  pass  them.  Besides,  the 
convicts  know  when  they  are  well  off.  They 
6  49 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

would  a  thousand  times  rather  be  here  than  be 
wearing  leg  chains  in  one  of  the  island  prisons. 

''  To  be  sure,  the  officials  are  very  careful  in 
selecting  men  for  this  job.  These  hands  have 
all  completed  their  good-conduct  service,  were 
all  seamen  before,  and  this  boatswain,  indeed, 
was  actually  an  officer  in  the  Russian  Royal 
Navy,  so  no  wonder  he  knows  his  work,  and 
knows  how  to  make  the  men  under  him  do 
theirs. 

"  You  see,  on  board  here  they  get  first-rate 
grub,  they  dress  the  same  as  free  sailors  do, 
they  get  extra  allowances  besides,  and  if  they 
only  don't  think  about  it,  they  are  just  as  well 
off  as  they  would  be  in  freedom.  I  suppose 
some  of  them,  such  chaps  as  the  boatswain  for 
instance,  must  think  about  their  condition  some- 
times— it  isn't  in  human  nature  not  to — but  they 
know  that  if  they  should  try  to  do  more  than 
think,  the  guard  would  shoot  them  down  as 
quick  as  a  flash." 

He  started  off  to  give  some  necessary  direc- 
tions to  some  of  these  men,  but,  having  had  a 
capital  luncheon  and  being  in  the  most  friendly 
state  possible,  he  suddenly  turned  on  his  heel 
and  added  as  a  final  remark: 

"  But  then,  don't  you  see,  if  these  chaps  had 
been  in  your  free  and  glorious  country — well, 
then  they  wouldn't  'a'  been  here  at  all,  would 
50 


To  Sakhalin 

they?  Ha,  ha,  ha!  Don't  you  see-e-e — under- 
stand, eh?  "  This  last  remark  was  accompanied 
by  a  gesture  with  his  forefinger,  which  pointed 
upward  from  under  his  ear. 

All  the  afternoon  the  Sakhalin  coast  was 
clearly  in  view,  and  its  dreariness  fully  equalled 
my  expectation.  Except  for  the  lighthouse  at 
Cape  Crillon,  nothing  came  into  view  between 
there  and  Korsakoffsk  to  suggest  that  any  hu- 
man being  had  been  there  before  us.  Wooded 
hills  extended  all  along  the  coast,  and  were  very 
monotonous.  As  in  the  Siberian  ranges,  the 
conical  peaks,  so  common  in  Japan,  here  no- 
where diversified  the  sky-line. 

It  was  announced  that,  as  we  should  arrive 
at  Korsakofifsk  before  dark,  dinner  would  be 
ready  at  six,  instead  of  at  seven,  for  the  conve- 
nience of  such  as  were  going  ashore. 

As  we  were  entering  the  beautiful  bay  of 
Aniva,  the  Governor  appeared  on  deck  in  full 
uniform — a  governor  every  inch.  Preparatory 
to  landing,  nearly  all  the  passengers  came  out, 
wonderfully  changed  in  appearance,  for  the 
warm-hearted  Governor  had  generously  invited 
them  to  go  ashore  as  his  guests  during  the  two 
or  three  hours  the  boat  remained  at  Korsa- 
koffsk. 

With  the  impatience  which  is  always  shown 
by  passengers  on  a  steamer  when  approaching 
51 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

their  port  of  destination,  we  made  short  work 
of  a  really  capital  dinner.  I  suppose  that  no- 
body felt  more  impatiently  curious  than  my- 
self. 

Standing  in  a  group  of  several  persons,  who, 
with  outstretched  forefingers,  were  uttering 
questions  and  exclamations — of  which  the  chief 
were,  "Where  is  Korsakoffsk? '^  "There!" 
"  I  don't  see  it!  "  "  Why,  right  there!  "  "  Oh, 
yes,  I  think  I  see  it.'*  "  Oh,  yes,  as  plainly  as 
possible!  Thank  you."  "  Oh,  but  you  are  look- 
ing in  the  wrong  direction!  it's  over  yonder," 
and  so  forth — I  descried  more  and  more  plainly 
every  minute  what  I  must  confess  was  rather 
disappointing. 

On  the  face  of  a  pretty  hill,  flanked  and 
backed  by  other  hills  and  mountains,  appeared 
a  very  broken  line  of  unpainted  wooden  houses 
running  from  near  the  beach  straight  up  the  hill, 
at  the  top  of  which  arose  a  large  straggling 
building  with  tower  and  flagstaff,  from  which 
floated  a  flag  that,  reflecting  the  warm  light  of 
the  setting  sun,  stood  out  in  very  pretty  relief 
against  the  dark  and  thickly  w^ooded  mountain 
behind  it.  This  large  building,  I  was  informed, 
was  the  prison. 

Near  the  water's  edge,  farther  to  the  right, 
was  a  small  group  of  shabby-looking  buildings, 
and  in  front  of  them  a  little  rough-looking  pier 
52 


To  Sakhalin 

or  landing  made  of  piles,  of  the  kind  so  familiar 
to  the  traveller  on  American  rivers  and  lakes. 

The  bay  of  Aniva  afforded  the  only  really 
pleasing  view  we  had  seen  that  day.  Korsa- 
koffsk  itself,  however,  appeared  so  forbidding 
and  dreary  that,  had  I  been  travelling  merely  for 
pleasure,  I  should  have  changed  my  mind  about 
landing  at  all.  Outside  of  the  little  settlement 
itself,  look  which  way  you  would,  there  was  not 
the  least  sign  of  human  habitation.  On  the  bay 
itself  there  was  not  a  single  sail  or  sign  of  human 
interest. 

When  at  last  we  came  to  the  only  safe  an- 
chorage, at  least  a  mile  from  the  pier,  we  could 
see  a  number  of  military  guards  and  considerable 
movement  at  the  landing. 

The  military  guards  of  our  steamer  took  up 
their  positions  at  both  sides  of  the  ship's  gang- 
ways. Ladders  were  lowered,  and  two  boats 
containing  officers  arrived  alongside.  They  had 
come  to  greet  the  returning  Governor  and  to  get 
the  only  glimpse  of  the  outside  world  which  is 
offered  them  by  the  occasional  visits  of  the 
Baikall. 

The  greetings,  which  commenced  with  a  dig- 
nified military  salute,  promptly  lapsed  into  affec- 
tionate huggings  and  kissings  and  the  inevitable 
drinking  of  healths.  The  officers  perform  this 
ceremony  so  often  that  one  wonders  they  have 
53 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

any  health  left.  Presently  there  approached 
what  looked  like  a  man-of-war's  barge  with  a 
flag  flying  at  the  stern,  all  in  the  smartest,  trim- 
mest, most  gallant  style  imaginable. 

The  moment  the  Governor-Colonel  appeared 
at  the  gangway  the  oarsmen,  with  caps  off  and 
oars  erect,  came  to  attention  and,  led  by  their 
cockswain,  gave  a  prolonged  and  thundering 
cheer,  the  words  of  it  being  "  Tdraviya  Zhalai- 
hem  vasha  vesoko  Blagorodiye!  "  or  "  Health 
and  service  to  your  High  Honour." 

The  Governor  returned  the  salute  with 
"  Tdorova,"    or  "  How  does  it  do?  " 

Then  all  fell  to  business.  The  colonel's  lug- 
gage and  my  own  were  quickly  transferred  to  a 

boat  alongside  for  the  purpose.    Captain  L 

marshalled  the  persons  invited  by  the  Governor 
to  go  ashore,  all  of  whom  were  shown  to  the 
crimson  cushions  of  his  boat,  the  bottom  of 
which  was  also  carpeted  in  the  same  colour. 

As  the  Governor  descended  the  ladder,  the 
oarsmen  repeated  their  previous  salute,  which 
was  joined  in  by  the  sailors  on  the  ship. 

The  instant  the  Governor  and  myself  were 
seated,  the  cockswain  gave  the  word  and  every 

oar  was  in  motion.     Captain  L was  the  life 

of  the  party,  and  the  trip,  though  short,  was  ex- 
hilarating, the  effect  being  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  excellent  form  of  our  crew.  The  naval  uni- 
54 


To  Sakhalin 

form  of  the  men  was  faultlessly  smart  in  white 
and  blue,  their  stroke  perfect ;  while  in  physique 
it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  man-of-war's  crew 
which  could  surpass  them.  Yet,  as  I  afterward 
discovered,  every  man  of  this  magnificent  crew 
was  a  murderer. 

At  the  shabby,  rickety  little  landing  stage 
the  Governor  was  received  by  the  guard  there 
with  a  salute  which  was  much  less  demonstrative 
than  that  of  the  sailors,  and  was  strictly  military, 
as  became  soldiers  of  the  Imperial  Army. 

The  party  was  quickly  transferred  to  the 
droschkis  which  were  awaiting  our  arrival,  the 
Governor,  the  captain,  and  myself  getting  into 
the  front  one,  which  was  the  private  droschki 
of  the  Governor  and  was  a  close  imitation  of  an 
Irish  jaunting  car. 

At  the  word  "  Pashol!  "  from  the  Governor, 
his  stalwart  coachman,  with  a  whip-crack  like  a 
pistol  shot,  started  his  team  at  a  gallop  along 
the  short  coast  road,  doubled  the  sharp  corner 
without  slowing  up  in  the  least,  and  took  us 
whirling  up  the  steep  road  which  is  the  main 
street  of  the  settlement,  in  a  style  that  nearly 
landed  me  at  the  wrong  place.  As  the  hill  rose 
more  and  more  steeply  before  us,  the  faster  and 
faster  we  went,  until  in  the  midst  of  a  break- 
neck gallop  the  foaming  horses  were  halted  as 
suddenly  as  they  had  started.  As  we  alighted 
55 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

at  the  door  I  noticed  that  we  had  got  so  far 
ahead  of  the  other  droschkis  that  not  one  of  them 
was  in  sight. 

Without  now  suggesting  that  there  are  any 
precautionary  reasons  for  travelling  at  such 
speed,  I  afterward  found  that  this  was  the  Gov- 
ernor's habitual  pace,  and  that  his  driver  was 
possessed  with  the  idea  that  any  speed  short  of 
the  fastest  possible  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  superior  importance  and  dignity  of  his  High 
Honour,  his  master  and  Governor. 

Every  household  on  this  street  knows  the 
jingle  of  the  Governor's  droschki  bells,  and  this 
whirlwind-like  entrance  was  a  public  announce- 
ment to  all  and  sundry  within  the  homes  that 
his  annual  holiday  in  distant  Siberia  was  over, 
and  that  he  had  safely  returned  to  them  in  Kor- 
sakoffsk. 


56 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    REPUTATION    OF    SAKHALIN 

The  exiles  and  convicts  who  are  in  the  mines 
and  prisons  towards  the  far-distant  end  of  Sibe- 
ria, and  therefore  nearest  to  SakhaHn,  generally 
come  to  be  more  and  more  aware  of  its  proxim- 
ity. At  Irkutsk,  Kara,  Nertchinsk,  Vladivostok, 
or  Nickolaivsk,  if  Prisoner  41,  we  will  say, 
would  have  No.  43  know  that  their  missing  com- 
rade (42)  had  for  some  additional  crime  been  at 
last  condemned  to  this  much-dreaded  country, 
he  might  whisper  that  No.  42  had  been  sent 
to  "Ostrov  Proklyatuick,"  the  "Isle  of  the 
Lost." 

On  my  return  to  Europe  I  could  not  dis- 
cover that  any  book  in  any  language  had  been 
written  containing  general  information  respect- 
ing the  ordinary  life  of  officials,  exiles,  or  con- 
victs on  this  island,  based  upon  its  author's 
actual  experience. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Lansdell  showed  his  usual  love 
for  details  by  combining  a  number  of  facts  about 
the  island  with  interesting  statements  which  he 
57 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

had  obtained  from  persons  who  might  be  sup- 
posed to  know.  In  his  book  on  Siberia,  Mr. 
George  Kennan  also  introduced  statements 
about  SakhaHn;  but  he  says  that  he  turned  back 
at  Nertchinsk,  which  is  over  two  thousand  miles 
from  southern  Sakhalin.  One  book  on  the  Si- 
berian question  awakened  pleasant  anticipations 
in  my  breast,  its  author  stating  that  he  had  made 
an  exhaustive  investigation  respecting  Sakhalin. 
My  hopes  fell  like  the  stick  of  a  rocket,  however, 
when  he  added  that  this  ''  exhaustive  investiga- 
tion "  was  made  at  Irkutsk,  and  consisted  of  a 
single  interview  with  a  Russian  soldier  he  vciti 
there  en  route  from  Sakhalin  to  Moscow,  on  the 
completion  of  his  term  of  military  service  on  the 
island.  Once  upon  a  time  two  merchants,  a 
Mr.  Denbigh  and  a  Mr.  Emery,  obtained  cer- 
tain mining  and  trading  concessions,  but  I  am 
not  aware  that  they  have  contributed  anything 
to  the  literature  on  Siberia. 

As  the  result  of  my  inquiries,  not  only  in 
Sakhalin  itself,  but  in  various  parts  of  Russia  as 
well,  I  came  to  think  that  it  is  rather  the  policy 
of  the  Russian  Government  to  discourage  any 
definite  information  about  Sakhalin  from  reach- 
ing the  Russian  people;  that  it  prefers  to  main- 
tain the  dreadful  mysteriousness  with  which  it  is 
enshrouded,  in  order  that  the  fear  and  horror  of 
the   place  may  have  a  deterrent   and   salutary 

58 


The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin 

effect  upon  the  criminally  inclined  throughout 
the  Empire. 

In  other  countries,  however,  Sakhalin  and  its 
convicts  have  been  written  about  by  several  au- 
thors without  information  at  first  hand. 

In  his  book  on  Siberia  and  the  Nihilists, 
Mr.  W.  I.  Armstrong  remarks:  "There  is  Httle 
doubt  that  the  punishment  of  convicts  on  Sak- 
halin is  greater  than  that  inflicted  at  any  formal 
establishment  in  Siberia  proper." 

Respecting  one  of  the  forms  of  punishment 
which  he  says  is  habitually  practised  there,  he 
remarks:  "  Those  tied  to  rings  receive  from  one 
to  two  hundred  strokes  of  the  knout,"  while  he 
has  this  to  impart  regarding  the  treatment  of 
would-be  runaways:  ''The  system  of  man-hunt- 
ing is  carried  on  so  near  the  convicts'  quarters 
that  many  unfortunate  exiles  with  no  thought  of 
escaping  fall  victims  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
their  barracks.  .  .  .  There  is  a  reward  of  three 
hundred  roubles  for  every  escaped  convict,  dead 
or  alive,"  and  "  the  proof  required  is  the  severed 
head  of  the  convict,  and,  as  they  are  all  branded, 
it  is  easy  to  decide  against  any  mistake.  .  .  . 
At  Nickolaivsk,"  which  is  the  last  overland  sta- 
tion en  route  to  this  place,  "  those  who  use  a 
wheel-barrow  are  chained  to  it,  those  who  wield 
a  pick  are  chained  to  a  rock  beside  their  work," 
and  "  nearly  half  the  prisoners  are  insane." 
59 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Speaking  of  the  treatment  en  route  of  such 
prisoners  as  are  sent  direct  to  SakhaHn  from 
western  Russia  by  the  sea,  Mr.  Armstrong  says: 
"  It  was  at  this  remote  and  awful  SakhaHn  (at 
the  atrocities  of  whose  administration  even  the 
NihiHsts  would  appear  to  have  fallen  short  in 
their  descriptions)  that  the  arrival  of  a  convict 
vessel  filled  with  political  and  other  prisoners  in 
1876  caused  the  press  of  the  whole  East  to  cry 
out  in  horror  of  Russian  barbarity.  Aboard  this 
were  several  hundreds  of  prisoners  confined  in 
iron  cages  to  whose  floors  they  were  heavily 
chained.  These  prisoners,  such  as  had  not  died 
and  left  their  cages  empty,  had  made  in  the  fierc- 
est heats  of  summer  the  whole  journey  of  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  miles  from  Cronstadt  through 
the  burning  Mediterranean  and  Indian  Seas  to 
their  destination." 

Prince  Kropotkin,  who  appears  to  have  been 
in  Siberia  first  as  an  official  and  afterward  as  an 
exile,  remarks  respecting  Sakhalin,  on  page  22 
of  his  book  In  Russian  and  French  Prisons: 
"  Few  places  in  the  Russian  Empire  are  worse 
than  this  island,  therefore  it  is  to  Sakhalin  that 
the  Russian  Government  sends  now  its  hard- 
labour  exiles.  ...  In  the  meantime  a  new  hell 
worse  than  Atakni  has  been  devised.  Hard- 
labour  convicts  are  sent  now  to  die  on  the  Sak- 
halin islands." 

60 


The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin 

On  page  202  he  says:  "There  is  in  the 
northern  Pacific,  close  by  the  coasts  of  Russian 
Manchuria,  a  wide  island,  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  world,  but  so  out  of  the  way  of  seafarers,  so 
wild  and  barren  and  so  difificult  of  access,  that, 
until  the  last  century,  it  was  quite  ignored  and 
considered  as  a  mere  appendix  to  the  continent. 
Few  places  in  the  Russian  Empire  are  worse 
than  this  island." 

Other  statements  about  Sakhalin  in  the  same 
book  are:  "  Sakhalin  ranks  among  the  last  in 
the  world  for  human  habitation.  .  .  .  Little  is 
known  about  the  condition  of  convicts  on  Sak- 
halin itself.  ...  In  1879  a  report  appeared  in 
the  Russian  press,  signed  by  a  Russian  mer- 
chant, stating  that  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the 
chief  commander  at  Sakhalin  knew  no  limits. 
The  prison  administration  was  accused  of  steal- 
ing the  last  coppers  of  the  convicts.  .  .  ." 

On  page  220  we  read  that  "  a  doctor,  Mr.  A. 

A ,  wrote  in  October,  1880,  from  Alexan- 

drovsk,  *  I  am  ordered  to  the  KorsakofTsk  hos- 
pital on  the  south  coast,  but  I  cannot  reach  it 
before  next  June.  My  colleague  abandons  his 
post;  he  can  no  longer  hear  all  that  is  going  on 
there ' — significant  words  which  permit  a  Rus- 
sian reader  to  guess  the  truth,  especially  when 
they  are  followed  by  these:  *  The  chief  of  the 
settlement  seldom  visits  the  barracks;  he  does 
61 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

not  appear  otherwise  than  surrounded  by  armed 
wardens.  The  Governor  of  the  prison  dare  not 
appear  among  the  convicts.'  .  .  .  One  of  the 
greatest  inducements  of  Sakhalin  in  the  eyes  of 
the  administration  was  that  escapes  would  be  ex- 
ceedingly difficult;  this  inducement  surely  ex- 
ists. .  .  .  Each  prisoner  captured  in  Siberia  by 
indigenes  is  valued  at  ten  roubles  when  brought 
back  alive  and  five  roubles  when  killed;  three 
roubles  in  the  latter  case,  and  six  roubles  in  the 
former,  serve  on  Sakhalin  to  induce  the  shilyaks 
to  hunt  the  runaways.  .  .  ."  Page  223:  "  These 
shilyaks  came  across  twelve  nonconformists  with 
infants  in  arms;  they  were  all  killed  by  the  shil- 
yaks." 

So  much  for  statements  by  popular  authors. 
An  official  report  may,  however,  be  deemed  of 
more  value.  In  such  a  report  made  in  1882, 
General  Anuchin,  Governor-General  of  eastern 
Siberia,  speaks  of  the  gold  mines  of  Kara,  which 
he  says  is  altogether  the  most  hated  and  dreaded 
spot  in  Siberia.  He  compares  Sakhalin  with  it 
in  these  terms: 

"  Penal  servitude  on  the  island  of  Sakhalin 
is  organized  in  the  same  way  as  at  Kara;  but  the 
work  at  the  former  place  is  much  harder,  and 
the  place  itself  is  wilder  and  more  solitary. 
This,  with  the  prospect  of  remaining  on  a  distant 
island  as  a  settler  after  the  completion  of  a  term 
62 


The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin 

of  hard  labour,  makes  the  lot  of  a  Sakhalin  con- 
vict a  very  hard  one,  and  one  that  corresponds 
much  more  nearly  with  the  punishment  which 
the  law  has  in  view." 

Under  this  report  the  Emperor  of  Russia  is 
said  to  have  written,  "  A  Melancholy  Picture." 

It  is  one  thing  to  put  exiles  into  Siberia,  it 
is  another  thing  to  hold  them  there.  It  is  a  very 
common  impression  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
exiles  in  Siberia  are  confined  in  prisons  there. 
This  is  a  great  mistake.  By  far  the  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  whole  number  of  exiles  and  con- 
victs in  Siberia  are  on  "  ticket  of  leave  "  or  con- 
ditional release. 

Of  the  vagrant  class  the  larger  number  sent 
to  Siberia  are  released  on  this  system  almost  as 
soon  as  they  reach  the  place  to  which  they  are 
consigned. 

Criminal  and  political  convicts,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  not  released  until  after  at  least  two 
years  or  more  of  probation,  during  which  time 
they  must  pass  their  nights  in  prison.  If  suffi- 
ciently politic,  almost  any  criminal  whatever  can 
obtain  release  sooner  or  later.  From  these 
*'  Free  Convicts,"  as  they  are  called,  come  the 
"  Brodyags  "  or  "  Runaways  "  who  infest  and 
sometimes  terrorize  the  country.  Of  these  it  is 
the  political  exiles,  and  the  more  clever  and  dan- 
gerous of  the  criminals — those,  indeed,  against 

63 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

whom  the  Government  is  most  anxious  to  pro- 
tect society — who  are  most  successful  in  manag- 
ing to  return  to  it. 

It  was  to  correct  this  condition  of  things  that 
Sakhalin  was  selected  as  an  island  prison  which 
should  be  absolutely  secure. 

Political  exiles,  who  for  a  long  time  were 
exempt  from  deportation  to  Sakhalin,  and  who 
by  many  are  still  supposed  to  enjoy  that  immu- 
nity, came  at  last  to  be  sent  there  with  other 
incorrigibles  of  the  "  Brodyag "  class.  For 
proof  on  this  point  the  following  ofBcial  com- 
munication may  sufifice: 

"Ministry  of  the  Interior, 

"Chief  Prison  Administration  No.  2926, 
"  St.  Petersburg,  March  /,  1888. 

"  To  the  Governor  of  the  Island  of  Sakhalin. 

"Your  High  Excellency:  On  the  Nijni 

Novgorod,  of  the  Volunteer  Fleet,  which  is  to 

sail  from  the  Port  of  Odessa  on  the  20th  of 

March,  1888,  there  is  a  party  of  five  hundred 

and  twenty-five  convicts  banished  to  the  island 

of  Sakhalin.    Among  these  prisoners  banished  to 

penal  servitude  are  the  political  oiTenders  Vas- 

silli  Volunof,  Sergei  Kuzin,  Ivan  Meisner,  and 

Stanilaus  Khrenofski.     In  notifying  you  of  this 

fact,    the    chief   prison    administration    has    the 

honour  respectfully  to  request  that  you  make 

arrangements  to  confine  these  political  offenders 

64 


The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin 

not  in  a  separate  group  by  themselves,  but  in  the 
cells  of  other  (common  criminal)  convicts.  In 
making  the  arrangements  for  confining  these 
criminals  in  prison  and  employing  them  in  work, 
no  distinction  whatever  must  be  made  between 
them  and  other  criminals,  except  in  the  mat- 
ter of  surveillance,  which  must  be  of  the  strict- 
est character.  Neither  must  any  difference  be 
made  between  them  and  other  convicts  in  re- 
spect to  punishments  inflicted  for  violations 
of  prison  discipline.  You  will  not  fail  to  in- 
form the  chief  prison  administration  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  above  political  offend- 
ers are  distributed  on  the  island  of  Sakhalin, 
and  to  forward  reports  in  regard  to  their  be- 
haviour. 

"  [Signed]       M.  Galkine  Wrasskoy, 

'•'^  Director  of  the  Chief  Prison  Administration''' 

It  is  said,  though  I  have  not  seen  the  original 
authority  for  the  statement,  that  not  long  after 
their  arrival  two  of  these  poHtical  offenders, 
Vassilli  Volunof  and  Ivan  Meisner,  in  pursuance 
of  these  directions  and  for  what  is  alleged  to 
have  been  only  a  minor  offence — namely,  de- 
clining to  show  the  usual  form  of  respect  exact- 
ed by  rule  from  all  prisoners  towards  the  prison 
officials — underwent  the  punishment  and  degra- 
dation of  flogging,  just  as  would  have  been  in- 
7  65 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

flicted  upon  any  ordinary  criminal  convict  under 
similar  circumstances. 

From  among  a  number  of  statements  re- 
cently published  in  English  newspapers  respect- 
ing Sakhalin,  here  is  an  extract  from  an  article 
in  the  Sun  of  July  25,  1893: 

''  According  to  an  east  Siberian  paper 
(which  would  presumably  not  be  allowed  to  con- 
coct such  a  story),  so  terrible  a  state  of  affairs 
has  prevailed  on  the  island  of  Sakhalin  that  the 
Governor  had  recently  to  interfere  for  the  pro- 
tection of  prisoners  against  minor  prison  ofifi- 
cials.  A  number  of  the  former  are  stated  to 
have  deliberately  maimed  themselves  in  order 
to  get  free  of  certain  cruel  warders.  Others 
fled  into  the  impenetrable  forests,  where  they 
suffered  all  the  horrors  of  hunger.  In  a  satchel 
belonging  to  a  fugitive  convict  who  had  been 
hunted  down  were  found  some  pieces  of  human 
flesh;  and  other  cases  of  cannibalism  have  been 
reported." 

Another,  from  the  London  Standard  for  July, 
1895,  said: 

"  St.  Petersburg,  Friday  Night. 

"  Vague  rumours  of  the  unsatisfactory  state 
of  the  convict  prison  of  Onor,  on  the  island  of 
Sakhalin,  having  reached  St.  Petersburg,  a  Gov- 
ernment Commission  was  instituted  some  time 
ago  to  inquire  into  the  matter.  The  report  is 
66 


The  Reputation  of  Sakhalin 

now  to  hand,  and  reveals  a  terrible  tale  of  suffer- 
ing and  crime.  Instances  without  number  are 
recorded  of  merciless  beatings  and  lopping  off 
of  fingers  and  arms  by  sabre  cuts.  While  canni- 
balism, under  stress  of  famine,  is  a  common 
occurrence,  murder  followed  by  cannibalism 
is  also  frequently  committed  with  the  sole  ob- 
ject of  putting  an  end  to  the  misery  of  exist- 
ence at  Onor.  And  instances  are  related  where 
several  convicts  disputed  before  the  authorities 
for  the  guilt  of  a  murder. 

''  During  the  whole  of  1892  there  was  an  al- 
most continuous  string  of  convoys  with  corpses 
of  convicts  passing  from  Onor  to  Rykovskaya, 
the  residence  of  the  authorities,  and  the  bodies 
were  so  mutilated,  and  presented  so  pitiful  a 
spectacle,  that  the  report  says  the  spectators 
could  not  look  upon  them  without  tears.  No 
inquiries,  however,  were  made,  and  the  bodies 
were  simply  buried  without  further  ado.  Nei- 
ther of  the  two  doctors  living  at  Rykovskaya 
ever  visited  Onor.  In  1893  a  band  of  convicts 
was  handed  over  to  an  inspector,  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  to  construct  a  road 
from  Onor  to  Rykovskaya.  If  any  convict 
failed  in  his  work,  he  was  at  once  put  on  half- 
rations  the  next  day,  followed  by  a  third  of  ra- 
tions, and  when  he  could  work  no  more  the 
inspector  finished  him  with  a  revolver  bullet, 

67 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  entered  his  death  in  the  books  as  from  dis- 
ease. 

"  The  principal  author  and  encourager  of  all 
these  atrocities  is  the  convict  Rhakofif,  who  is  a 
favourite  of  the  commandant  of  the  district,  and 
has  been  made  inspector-general.  He  has  lately 
been  recommended  for  good  service,  and  he  and 
all  his  colleagues  have  succeeded  hitherto  in 
keeping  their  misdeeds  secret  from  the  world. 
The  above  details  are  not,  it  must  be  noted, "a 
convict's  tale,  but  are  taken  from  an  official  Gov- 
ernment report." 

From  the  quotations  given  I  think  it  will 
be  seen  that,  if  the  worst  cruelties  in  Siberia 
proper  be  added  together,  they  still  fall  short  of 
the  reputation  of  Sakhalin. 

As  my  residence  on  the  island  was  chiefly 
in  that  part  of  it  which  was  the  most  notorious, 
which  is,  indeed,  the  most  distant  penal  settle- 
ment in  the  whole  Russian  Empire,  and  was 
within  the  worst  period  of  its  history,  my  own 
personal  experience  there  may  possess  some  in- 
terest. 


68 


CHAPTER   V    . 

KORSAKOFFSK   WAYS 

At  the  house  of  the  Governor  of  Korsa- 

koffsk  Prison,  Madame  S ,  his  good  wife, 

and  a  number  of  officers,  miUtary  and  civil,  were 
waiting  to  receive  him;  and  this  they  did  with 
all  the  boisterous  and  reckless  affection  which 
Russians  allow  themselves  everywhere,  but 
which  only  at  the  more  distant  stations  in  and 
beyond  Siberia  rises  to  the  highest  level  of  un- 
restraint. 

Closely  following  us,  came  pouring  in  the 
guests  the  Governor  had  invited  from  the  Bai- 
kall,  between  whom  and  the  household  Captain 
L acted  as  master  of  ceremonies.  His  man- 
ner of  introducing  everybody  to  everybody  else 
seemed  to  say,  "  Now,  gentlemen,  the  Baikall 
waits  for  nobody — ^weVe  only  an  hour  before  us, 
so  make  the  most  of  your  time  and  don't  lose 
a  moment — a  short  life  and  a  merry  one's  the 
word.  So  here's  to  your  healths,  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, let  us  all  be  happy!  " 

A  Manchester  engineer  pulling  the  lever  in 

69 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

a  cotton-mill  couldn't  have  been  more  successful 
in  starting  a  general  clatter  than  the  captain  was. 
Darting  about  in  every  direction  he  distributed 
stimulating  and  lubricating  liquids.  Tongues 
moved  as  swiftly  and  noisily  as  shuttles. 
Whether  in  Russian,  German,  or  French,  I  took 
it  for  granted  that  the  person  talking  to  me 
could  himself  hear  what  he  said,  even  if  I  could 
not,  so  I  smiled  approvingly,  interposed  occa- 
sionally an  agreeable  Russian  monosyllable  at 
what  I  judged  to  be  appropriate  moments,  but 
chiefly  listened.  To  my  amusement  I  afterward 
learned  that  I  was  a  ''  charming  conversational- 
ist "  and  "  so  very  intelHgent." 

Too  various  to  enumerate  were  the  refresh- 
ments which  were  displayed  upon  a  side-table, 
on  one  end  of  which  was  the  merry  and  inevi- 
table samovar,  and  at  the  other,  as  a  rival  attrac- 
tion, a  small  army  of  little  glasses  and  numerous 
bottles.  As  there  were  no  servants  present,  we 
all  helped  ourselves  and  each  other  to  what  we 
liked  best,  and  to  a  degree  which  excited  my 
apprehension. 

Among  the  many  groups  in  which  the  com- 
pany now  seemed  to  divide,  by  far  the  largest 
seemed  to  consist  entirely  of  resident  officials. 
Of  this  group  the  Governor  was  the  centre. 
With  marked  and  growing  excitement  they  were 
all  listening  to  an  officer  who  had  but  just  en- 
70 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

tered  the  room  and  in  great  haste  had  made  his 
way  direct  to  the  Governor,  as  if  on  business  of 
sudden  importance.  I  noticed  that  there  was  a 
great  commotion  among  them,  as  if  the  newly 
arrived  officer  had  brought  some  very  alarming 
information.  With  one  member  of  this  group, 
who  was  in  the  medical  service,  I  had  just  before 
had  a  very  cordial  conversation,  so,  as  they  be- 
gan to  separate,  I  gave  him  an  opportunity  of 
enlightening  me  on  the  point  which  had  so  ab- 
sorbed their  attention.  Taking  me  by  the  arm 
and  leading  me  to  a  quiet,  dark  corner  of  the 
veranda,  he  said  in  a  confidential  tone,  ''  Now, 
you  mustn't  appear  to  know  a  word  about  this. 
It  is  a  great  secret.  It  has  just  been  discovered 
that  five  of  our  very  worst  convicts,  all  guilty  of 
repeated  local  murders,  have  escaped  from  the 
prison.  They  are  the  most  incorrigible  assas- 
sins, and  wouldn't  hesitate  at  anything.  You 
see,  they  have  nothing  to  lose,  and  perhaps 
everything  to  gain,  as  they  may  think,  so  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  desperate  thing  they  may 
not  attempt.  Not  the  slightest  trace  has  been 
found  of  them,  and  of  course  no  person  or  build- 
ing is  safe  so  long  as  these  ruffians  are  at  large. 

''  They  can  conceal  themselves  separately  in 

the  forests  by  day,  and  at  night  may  combine, 

set  fire  to  the  prison,  the  Governor's  house  or 

the   store-houses,   or   in   the    darkness    murder 

71 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

whoever  they  can.  Unfortunately  these  people 
know  that  if  they  fail  and  are  caught,  the  worst 
punishment  the  law  allows  us  to  give  them  in 
Sakhalin  is  simply  a  flogging.  You  see,  it's  un- 
comfortable for  all  of  us,  and  the  worst  of  it  for 
me  is,  that  I  am  the  last  officer  who  went 
through  their  Kamera  before  they  were  missed. 
I  observed  no  trace  of  their  intention,  although 
they  must  have  been  working  away  at  their  min- 
ing preparations  for  several  days.  It  is  evident 
that  there  is  a  widespread  conspiracy,  and  God 
only  knows  what  may  happen  even  before  this 
night  is  over." 

Just  then  the  dining-room  doors  were  slid 
back,  revealing  to  my  astonishment  a  long  table 
surrounded  by  closely  set  chairs,  with  indications 
of  a  formal  dinner  for  the  party  I  thought  so 
surfeited. 

The  other  guests,  who  had  previously  dined 
with  me  on  the  steamer,  did  not  seem  to  share 
my  surprise  in  the  slightest,  so  I  tried  to  con- 
ceal it,  and,  as  everybody  squeezed  into  the  first 
chair  he  came  to,  the  doctor  and  I  sat  down 
together.  He  seemed  to  feel  a  wonderful  inter- 
est and  delight  in  meeting  a  confrere  from  such 
distant  regions,  and  as  he  also  had  pursued  part 
of  his  studies  at  the  Allgemeines  Krankenhaus 
in  Vienna,  we  had  a  good  many  reminiscences  of 
mutual  interest. 

72 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

He  had  just  been  relieved  of  his  duties  as 
Medical  Officer  of  the  Prison,  and  was  to  start 
for  Alexandrovsk  that  very  night  on  the  Baikal!, 
so  the  present  occasion  was  his  last  and  final 
farewell  to  Korsakoffsk,  where  he  was  so  evi- 
dently popular.  He  was  just  the  man  above  all 
others  who  was  able  to  tell  me  what  I  most 
wanted  to  know,  but  about  which  Iwas  least 
inclined  to  ask  other  and  less  communicative 
officers.  I  learned  from  him  a  great  many 
things  which  were  invaluable  as  guides  in  my 
subsequent  investigations.  He  begged  me  to 
go  on  with  him  to  Alexandrovsk,  or  to  come 
later  and  be  his  guest  till  the  end  of  the  summer, 
as  he  had  no  family  and  was  sadly  in  want  of 
company. 

The  end  of  the  numerous  courses  at  this  our 
third  dinner  was  not  reached  till  about  eleven 
o'clock,  after  which  my  friends  Tartsoff  and 
Schouvaloff,  in  a  further  conversation,  promised 

that  they  would  speak  to  General  K about 

me,  and  would  insure  me  a  hearty  reception  by 
him  if  I  should  subsequently  visit  Alexandrovsk. 

As  there  was  no  second  story  to  the  Gover- 
nor's house,  and  all  the  doors  but  one  were 
thrown  open,  I  inferred  that  his  bed-room  was 
the  only  one  in  the  building.  I  expressed  my 
fears  of  incommoding  the  household  by  my  visit, 

to  our  universal  friend.  Captain  L ,  but  he 

73 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

told  me  to  be  entirely  easy  on  that  point — that 
the  Governor  intended  me  to  have  the  Jarge 
room  occupying  the  entire  street  frontage  of  the 
house.  After  the  guests  of  the  evening  had 
gone,  a  cot  and  all  that  I  might  require  would 
be  arranged  for  me,  while  my  heavier  luggage 
could  remain  accessible  in  the  large  entrance  hall 
just  outside.  I  was  evidently  to  be  treated  like  a 
prince,  and  was  expected  to  stay  till  the  end  of 
the  summer. 

From  the  Baikall  was  now  heard  a  shrill,  pro- 
longed whistle,  which  the  cunning  captain  had 
preconcerted  should  not  be  blown  till  midnight, 
instead  of  at  ten  o'clock,  as  had  been  announced. 
Though  the  whistle  caused  considerable  flurry 
among  the  guests,  it  was  even  then  in  reality 
only  the  signal  and  excuse  for  another  health- 
drinking.  In  ten  minutes  another  whistle 
sounded,  and  about  five  minutes  later  came 
three  whistles  in  succession,  each  of  which  was 
more  prolonged  than  either  of  the  previous  ones. 
This  was  really  the  last  and  final  notice  thai  the 
steamer  was  ready  to  start.  The  droschkis  wait- 
ing at  the  door  were  rapidly  filled  with  the  mer- 
ry throng,  the  Governor  himself  accompanying 
them  to  the  pier. 

This  was  the  first  opportunity  I  had  for  any- 
thing like  a  chat  with  my  future  hostess,  who, 
knowing  that  the  other  guests  would  remain 
74 


KorsakoiFsk  Ways 

but  a  short  time,  had  very  properly  given  them 
her  chief  attention.  Little  was  the  time  she 
had  had  to  talk  even  to  them,  indeed,  for  this 
sudden  inrush  of  visitors  had  been  entirely  a 
surprise  to  her.  She  had  not  even  had  the 
slightest  intimation  of  the  time  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Baikall.  However,  she  had  extemporized 
her  lavish  entertainment,  had  presided  at  the  din- 
ner-table, had  led  the  dance  with  the  captain, 
and .  had  taken  her  turn  at  the  piano,  playing 
waltzes  and  sonatas  at  intervals  with  equal  finish 
of  execution. 

I  need  scarcely  say,  perhaps,  that  bed-rooms, 
as  such,  are  not  a  sacred  institution  in  the  Eng- 
lish and  American  sense  in  any  part  of  Russia, 
much  less  in  Siberia  and  beyond.  It  was  not  at 
all  surprising  to  me,  therefore,  when,  on  the  re- 
turn of  the  Governor,  the  clumsy  maid  dragged 
a  cot  into  the  front  room,  which  was  the  high- 
way to  all  the  other  apartments  in  the  house,  and 
proceeded  to  make  up  my  bed  there,  quickly 
converting  one  of  the  corners  of  it  into  a  sleep- 
ing place  with  the  further  aid  of  certain  portable 
items. 

As  we  were  all  tired  out,  I  bade  Madame 

S good-night  with  but  very  little  ceremony, 

and  was  shown  to  my  corner  by  the  Governor. 

Just  as  I  had  begun  to  undress,  he  returned 
to  my  room,  and  without  the  slightest  explana- 

75 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tion,  with  a  half-apologetic  and  good-natured 
smile, 'Showed  me  the  working  of  a  large  re- 
volver, and,  putting  it  at  half-cock,  placed  it 
under  my  pillow.  Then,  stepping  to  a  rack  in 
the  entrance  hall,  he  brought  me  a  walking- 
stick,  shaped  like  a  battle-axe,  made  of  a  beau- 
tifully polished  solid  piece  of  steel.  This  he 
placed  ready  to  hand  at  the  right  side  of  my 
cot,  whereupon,  having  seen  that  my  matches 
and  candle  were  in  good  order,  he  impressed 
upon  me  that,  whatever  happened,  I  must  in  no 
case  whatever  open  a  window.  With  a  cheerful 
"  bonne  nuit  "  he  left  me  to  my  own  reflections. 

The  strangeness  of  everything,  the  sudden 
contrast  with  the  previous  boisterous  jollity  of 
the  evening,  was  very  impressive  now  that  I  was 
left  all  alone. 

"  Well,"  thought  I,  "  this  ought  to  suit  me. 
It's  so  very  disagreeable,  and  then  it's  so  un- 
usual. The  Baikall's  gone,  and  in  any  case, 
whatever's  coming,  I'm  in  for  it.  I  wanted  a  new 
sensation  and  I've  got  it.  Yes,  after  all  I  rather 
like  it,  and  I  am  glad  I  came."  Saying  this 
aloud,  just  for  company,  I  blew  out  the  candle, 
and  turned  over  with  a  violent  determination  to 
go  right  to  sleep.  I  think  that  I  had  almost  suc- 
ceeded in  this,  but  the  next  thing  I  was  quite 
sure  of,  was  a  pattering  sound  of  feet,  of  mufifled 
voices,  and  of  what  seemed  like  an  occasional 

76 


KorsakofFsk  Ways 

clank,  clank,  as  of  a  heavy  chain  near  one  of  my 
windows.  The  clank  sounded  as  if  it  had  oc- 
curred by  accident;  the  other  noises  I  thought 
were  being  carefully  repressed.  The  secret  the 
doctor  had  confided  to  me,  with  the  parting  pre- 
cautions of  the  Governor,  at  once  flashed  before 
my  mind,  and  in  an  instant  I  struck  a  light  to  let 
the  rascals  know  that  we  were  ready  for  action. 

The  length  of  my  room,  as  already  stated, 
took  in  nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  house, 
and  its  height  extended  to  the  roof.  The  ceil- 
ing, like  the  walls,  was  simply  made  of  unsea- 
soned pine-boards;  the  floor  as  rough  as  if  it  had 
been  trodden  by  horses.  The  day  had  been  an 
unusually  warm  one,  and,  the  house  being  nearly 
new,  the  resinous  odour  from  new  and  oozing 
pine-boards  was  most  suffocating. 

About  half-past  two  I  became  aware  that  I 
must  have  fallen  asleep.  For  at  that  hour,  in  the 
blackest  of  darkness,  I  was  startled  by  I  knew 
not  what.  Intently  listening,  I  could  hear  sup- 
pressed voices  just  outside  my  window,  and,  as 
before,  an  occasional  clank  as  of  a  convict's 
chain.  As  I  ran  my  ear  along  the  wall,  I  heard 
a  crackling  sound,  but  could  not  tell  whether  it 
was  from  fire  or  the  crushing  of  light  sticks  and 
stubble  under  heavy  feet. 

I  was  not  going  to  be  simple  enough  to  dis- 
turb the  Governor  by  what  might  be  a  foolish 
77 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

alarm,  so  I  simply  lighted  a  cigarette  and  await- 
ed events.  After  a  while,  as  none  was  forthcom- 
ing, I  made  my  way  into  the  front  hall,  and 
thence  into  the  vestibule,  where,  through  the 
little  windows  on  either  side  the  heavily  barred 
front  door,  I  could  just  discover  right  across 
the  road  a  military  sentinel.  It  afterward  trans- 
pired that  these  various  alarms  had  come  sim- 
ply from  the  guard  making  the  usual  relief;  the 
clank  had  been  from  the  sabre  of  a  subaltern  in 
command. 

Early  in  the  morning,  a  male  domestic  en- 
tered my  room  without  knocking,  and  with  a 
great  deal  of  unnecessary  noise  and  clatter  un- 
fastened the  heavily  barred  shutters,  but,  con- 
sistently with  Russian  notions  of  ventilation,  he 
never  ventured  to  open  one  of  the  windows.  He 
was  a  murderer. 

About  eight  o'clock,  a  repulsive  female  serv- 
ant crept  stealthily  to  the  side  of  my  bed,  bring- 
ing the  usual  morning  cup  of  tea,  and  then  with- 
out a  word  slid  out  again.  She  was  a  mur- 
deress. 

After  such  a  weird  and  gloomy  night,  the 
bright  sunshine,  as  it  poured  into  my  room, 
gave  me  new  life,  and  awakened  an  impatient 
desire  to  reconnoitre  my  strange  and  mysterious 
surroundings.  By  the  help  of  my  toy  wash- 
basin, which,  like  all  imported  articles  in  Siberia, 

78 


Korsakoffsk   Ways 

except  Huntley  &,  Palmer's  biscuits,  was  either 
French  or  German,  I  managed  to  give  myself  a 
Russian  wipe.  I  then  dressed,  and  took  a  gen- 
eral look  about  the  premises. 

From  the  street,  entrance  to  the  other  two 
rooms  in  the  Governor's  one-storied  house  or 
bungalow  could  only  be  gained  through  my 
apartment,  which  was  evidently  the  general  re- 
ception-room. 

A  large  and  very  elegant  inlaid  desk,  appar- 
ently in  constant  official  use,  as  well  as  other 
equally  elegant  articles  of  furniture,  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  bare  board  walls  and  rough 
floor  of  this  spacious  hall.  This  beautiful  furni- 
ture, I  afterward  found,  like  all  the  rest  of  it  in 
the  house,  except  the  mirrors  of  which  Russians 
are  so  fond,  hM  been  made  by  skilled  exiles  and 
convicts  in  the  cabinet  department  of  the  prison 
directly  opposite. 

In  this  same  room,  on  a  little  book-shelf 
hard  to  reach,  were  several  dusty  books,  num- 
bering in  all  perhaps  a  couple  of  dozen.  Some 
were  French,  some  were  German;  there  were 
also  five  volumes  of  the  Tauchnitz  edition,  three 
being  by  Thackeray  and  two  by  Dickens,  but 
they  all  had  the  appearance  of  being  neglected 
souvenirs  of  the  school  days  of  long  ago,  sug- 
gestive of  a  past  and  distant  home  life  probably 
not  far  from  St.  Petersburg. 

79 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

As  the  Governor,  in  urging  upon  me  this 
visit,  had  particularly  emphasized  the  pleasure 
his  wife  would  have  in  practising  upon  me  her 
rusty  English,  I  inferred,  and  rightly,  that  she 
had  been  the  only  reader  of  these  sadly  tattered- 
looking  books.  Indeed,  I  found  nobody  else  in 
the  place  who  would  have  pretended  to  be  able 
to  read  them. 

The  back  part  of  the  house  had  a  very  spa- 
cious uncovered  piazza,  with  steps  to  the  garden, 
which  contained  a  few  wild  flowers,  and  also  a 
few  currant-  and  gooseberry-bushes,  but  with 
no  fruit  upon  them  fit  to  eat.  None  of  the  flow- 
ers had  any  perfume,  but  their  growth  was  so 
luxuriant  that  the  principal  work  of  the  gardener 
was  not  cultivating  them,  but  thinning  them  and 
keeping  them  within  their  prope?  bounds. 

In  a  corner  of  the  garden,  close  beside  the 
house,  was  an  extemporized  tent  or  summer- 
house.  This  was  used  as  a  dining-room  and  as 
the  general  rendezvous  on  all  occasions. 

Observing  the  samovar  steaming  inside  the 
tent,  I  limited  my  stroll  to  its  immediate  vicin- 
ity, and  at  about  half-past  nine  was  met  by  the 
Governor,  who  came  down  the  steps  rubbing  his 
eyes  and  giving  me  a  soldier's  hearty  greeting. 

Madame  S quickly  followed,  and  as  we 

sat  down  in  the  fresh  morning  air  to  a  delicious 

al  fresco  breakfast,  weird  memories  of  the  night 

80 


Korsakoffsk   Ways 

quickly  vanished.  I  felt  some  interest  in  this 
meeting,  as  it  was  my  initiation  into  the  Uttle 
family  circle  of  which  I  was  now  to  be  a  mem- 
ber. My  first  act  at  table  was  a  grave  and  un- 
fortunate blunder. 

Madame  S was  reaching  out  for  an  egg. 

Seeing  this,  I  took  up  a  salt-cellar  to  pass  across 
the  table  to  her.  With  a  quick  movement  she 
warded  off  my  intention,  crossed  herself,  and 
looked  not  only  astonished  but  alarmed.  "  Do 
you  not  know,"  she  asked,  ''  how  extremely  un- 
lucky it  is  to  pass  the  salt  to  any  one  across  the 
table?" 

The  dishes  were  brought  on  by  another  re- 
pulsive-looking domestic,  resembling  the  one 
who  had  brought  me  my  early  tea.  She  also,  I 
found,  was  a  murderess.  My  hostess  informed 
me  that  she  was  observing  a  church  fast,  which 
had  continued  two  weeks,  but  would  come  to 
an  end  at  noon  on  the  following  day,  Sunday. 
She  took  this  occasion  to  express  very  cordially 
her  delight  at  my  coming,  and  assured  me  that 
it  would  be  such  a  pleasure  and  unprecedented 
break  in  the  monotony  of  Korsakoffsk,  that  the 
whole  settlement  would  be  grateful  to  me  for  my 
visit. 

Now  came  a  little  official  incident,  strikingly 

characteristic.    Directly  Madame  S had  left 

^  8l 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

the  table,  an  official  approached  with  a  military 
salute,  although  otherwise  he  did  not  give  me 
the  impression  of  being  an  officer.  His  aspect 
was  exceedingly  forbidding,  and  this  effect  was 
further  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  he  wore  con- 
spicuously a  pistol  in  his  belt,  had  a  huge  short- 
handled,  iron-knobbed  whip  in  his  hand,  and 
was  closely  attended  by  a  tremendously  large, 
savage-looking  dog.  The  animal  was  something 
between  a  boar-hound  and  an  English  mastiff, 
and  between  its  face  and  that  of  its  master  there 
was  considerable  resemblance.  This  man  was 
one  of  the  overseers,  come  to  make  to  the  Gov- 
ernor his  usual  morning  report. 

As  this  was  the  man's  first  official  interview 
with  his  superior  since  his  return,  there  were  a 
great  many  questions,  answers,  and  discussions, 
and  at  times  both  of  them  became  a  good  deal 
excited.  This  was  especially  the  case  when  the 
topic  of  the  escape  and  plans  for  the  capture  of 
the  five  prisoners  who  had  so  securely  got  away 
into  the  forest  was  reached. 

The  Governor  seemed  to  think  that  if  he  had 
been  at  home  the  event  would  not  have  hap- 
pened at  all,  and,  as  this  overseer  was  at  the  time 
in  command  of  the  prison,  he  was  roundly  be- 
rated. 

The  history  of  this  officer  was  that  of  many 
other  overseers,  and  every  one  of  his  features 

S2 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

told  the  story.  I  found  that  he  had  special  rea- 
sons for  alarm  over  this  incident,  because,  pre- 
vious to  its  occurrence,  he  had  almost  daily  been 
expecting  promotion. 

Every  successful  escape  from  a  Siberian 
prison  has  to  be  strictly  reported  all  the  way  up 
to  the  Administration  in  Chief  at  St.  Peters- 
burg; such  an  event  affects  the  record  of  every 
official,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  within 
whose  jurisdiction  the  escape  occurs;  and  it  is 
looked  upon  as  scarcely  less  of  a  crime  in  the 
officials  in  whose  command  it  happens  than  in 
the  prisoners  who  perpetrate  it.  Few  things  can 
happen  in  the  career  of  any  official  which  are  so 
sure  to  retard  his  promotion.  Hence,  in  the  mo- 
mentary chagrin  and  irritation,  mutual  recrimi- 
nation was  prevalent. 

A  warder  who  now  approached  was  gruffiy 
halted  by  the  Governor  until  the  interview  was 
ended.  He  then  came  forward,  presenting  a 
basin  of  soup.  The  Governor  hastily  inspected 
it,  tasted  it,  passed  it  to  me,  and  made  a  sign  to 
the  warder,  who  immediately  retreated. 

This  was  the  prison  soup  for  the  day,  which 
was  never  served  out  until  thus  tested.  A 
specimen  loaf  of  black  bread  also  accompanied 
it.  This  testing  of  the  daily  bread  and  soup,  and 
receiving  the  report  of  the  chief  overseer,  I 
found  to  be  a  part  of  the  Governor's  daily  rou- 

83 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tine,  always  attended  to  at  the  breakfast-table. 
The  bread  was  the  same  as  that  supplied  to  our 
own  table  and  to  that  of  all  the  officers. 

One  of  the  multifarious  functions  of  the 
Governor  was  that  of  Chief  of  the  Post  and 
Telegraph  Departments.  He  had  the  right  to 
examine,  and  generally  did  examine,  every  let- 
ter, package,  or  telegram  going  or  coming.  In 
the  case  of  exiles  or  convicts,  this  right  became 
a  duty,  and  the  task  was  not  a  light  one. 

This  inspection  was  reserved  chiefly  for  odd 
times  and  rainy  days.  As  I  was  under  no  more 
restraint  in  this  matter  than  in  any  other,  I 
learned  much  which  I  am  bound  to  regard  as 
confidential. 

I  am,  however,  free  to  remark  that  if  any 
novelist  in  want  of  a  subject  or  a  plot  should 
get  hold  of  a  single  heap  of  the  exiles'  letters 
he  might  find  enough  to  last  him  the  rest  of 
his  life. 

In  one  corner  of  my  room  was  a  heap  of  let- 
ters, opened,  but  condemned  never  to  be  deliv- 
ered. Imagine  the  trouble  and  thought  it  had 
taken  to  get  any  one  of  those  letters  written,  the 
anxious  hopes  which  by  day  and  by  night  had 
followed  them  on  their  way.  A  skeleton  in  that 
corner,  with  its  always  cynical  grin,  would  have 
been  a  cheerful  object  compared  with  this  heap 
of  dead  hopes,  with  its  constant  and  pathetic 

84 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

suggestiveness.  I  took  the  liberty  of  covering 
them  with  a  table-cloth,  which  entirely  con- 
cealed them,  remarking  to  the  Governor  that  it 
would  ''  keep  the  dust  from  them." 

To  what  extent  this  espionage  is  practised 
upon  the  communications  of  minor  ofBcials  and 
their  wives,  I  could  not  exactly  say,  but  I  know 
this:  it  is  always  part  of  the  routine  of  a  penal 
settlement,  and  adds  one  more  to  the  many 
items  which  make  the  lives  of  the  officials  them- 
selves and  of  all  concerned  unenviable. 

After  breakfast  the  Governor,  in  faultless 
uniform,  left  for  the  police  court,  of  which  he 
was  president,  and  I  was  left  to  stroll  about 
wherever  I  liked  and  to  amuse  myself  in  my  own 
way  until  dinner-time. 

To  avoid  causing  my  hostess  inconvenience 
by  any  want  of  punctuality,  I  asked  her  before 
starting  what  was  the  usual  dinner-hour.  With 
a  merry  laugh  she  made  a  reply  which  I  thought 
both  amusing  and  significant.  "  In  KorsakofTsk 
time  is  not  very  important.  We  usually  sit  down 
to  dinner  punctually  at  half-past  one,  or  at  two, 
or  about  three  o'clock,  or  we  may  have  dinner 
several  times  during  the  day,  all  just  as  it 
happens.  Perhaps  to-day  you  had  better  be 
back  about  two  o'clock."  I  afterward  found 
that  she  had  stated  the  case  most  accurately. 

85 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

With  my  tether  so  long  and  so  loose,  my 
temptation  was  to  make  straight  for  the  prison 
and,  as  is  my  wont  in  strange  places,  to  worm 
my  way  without  hesitation  into  every  nook  and 
cranny  not  usually  seen  by  casual  or  foreign  vis- 
itors. I  decided  that  my  wisest  course,  however, 
would  be  to  avoid  carefully  even  the  slightest 
display  of  curiosity.  I  would  neither  pry  nor 
inquire  into  anything  of  an  oflficial  nature,  but 
quietly  bide  my  time  and  let  things  come  to  me 
in  their  ordinary  and  inevitable  course. 

The  settlement  of  Korsakoffsk,  though  hav- 
ing the  main  features  common  to  all  small  Si- 
berian towns,  is  in  almost  every  respect  decided- 
ly superior  to  the  larger  number  of  them. 

Its  situation  is  picturesque,  healthful,  and  ro- 
mantic. Its  main  street  is  a  steady  ascent  up  the 
middle  line  of  a  hill  from  the  sea  front  at  its 
base  to  its  summit.  The  street  is  flanked  on  one 
side  by  a  deep  gorge,  and  on  the  other  by  a 
pretty  but  narrow  valley.  Beyond  these,  on 
either  side,  rise  other  hills  higher  and  higher  in 
succession.  Beyond  the  apex  of  the  hill  which 
the  street  ascends  are  lofty  mountains  forming 
an  amphitheatre,  in  the  centre  of  which  nestles 
Korsakoffsk,  every  part  of  it  looking  down  upon 
the  splendid  Aniva  Bay. 

On  ascending  the  main  street,  on  the  right 
and  left  are  two  buildings  of  considerable  archi- 

86 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

tectural  pretension  of  the  strictly  Russian  type. 
They  are  the  offices  of  the  PoHce  and  of  the  Gen- 
eral Administration.  Farther  up  are  the  church, 
and  the  houses  of  various  officials.  Overlook- 
ing all  the  others,  within  its  large  garden  in- 
closure,  is  the  residence  of  the  Governor,  which 
also  commands  an  unbroken  view  of  the  magnifi- 
cent bay. 

On  the  left  side  of  the  corresponding  part  of 
the  street  runs  a  long  line  of  blank  and  dreary- 
looking  buildings,  which  might  be  taken  for 
warehouses.  Their  many  windows,  which  are 
high  up  in  tJje  walls,  are  thickly  crossed  with 
iron  bars.  Continuous  with  these,  and  exactly 
opposite  the  house  of  the  Governor,  is  a  long, 
somewhat  lower  building  in  front  of  which  is  a 
raised  sidewalk  with  sentry-boxes  at  each  end, 
between  which  sentinels  are  pacing. 

In  front  of  this  platform  is  a  formidable  array 
of  cannon  with  stacks  of  arms  between  them. 
Just  beyond  is  a  huge,  handsome,  and  imposing 
gate-way,  with  a  little  door  within  the  massive 
gates  at  which  two  sentries  are  standing.  Be- 
yond this  again,  and  continuous  with  it  at  a  right 
angle,  runs  a  huge  stockade,  from  within  which 
a  watch-tower  rises  with  fine  effect  from  the 
highest  point  of  the  hill-crest,  which  for 'many 
acres  beyond  and  to  the  left  is  similarly  in- 
closed. 

87 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

All  these  long  lines  of  buildings  inclosing 
the  entire  crest  of  the  hill  form  the  prison,  the 
imposing  gate-way  I  have  described  forming  its 
main  entrance.  This,  with  the  guard-house  be- 
side it,  is  just  opposite  the  house  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. 

I  was  glad  to  find  that  from  a  sanitary  and 
aesthetic  point  of  view  the  exercise  grounds  and 
other  open  areas  within  the  prison  occupy  the 
choicest  spot  in  the  whole  settlement,  and  have 
the  finest  outlook  to  be  found  in  that  beautiful 
region. 

On  a  cross-street,  about  hali-way  up  the 
main  street  to  the  left,  in  line  with  the  lower 
part  of  the  prison,  is  the  hospital.  On  the  same 
side  of  the  hill  are  the  military  barracks  and 
parade-ground,  also  the  separate  bath-houses, 
for  prisoners,  for  soldiers,  and  for  the  officials 
respectively. 

On  the  acclivity  just  across  the  valley  to  the 
left  are  the  houses  of  most  of  the  military  and 
other  officers.  The  smaller  houses  with  their 
little  gardens  all  along  the  valley  on  either  side 
northward,  as  also  the  smaller  buildings  dotting 
the  hill  in  every  direction,  in  their  own  private 
gardens,  are  the  private  homes  of  exiles  and 
other  free  convicts. 

Excepting  only  the  chimneys,  all  the  houses 
are  built  of  wood,  which  in  its  natural  state  as- 
88 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

sumes  a  sombre  tint,  giving  to  the  settlement 
an  aspect  of  monotonous  gloom.  This  effect 
is  deepened  by  the  fact  that  the  street-fronts  of 
the  houses  are  blank,  the  entrances  being  on 
the  side.  Neither  on  my  first  stroll,  nor  at  any 
time,  except  on  a  Sunday,  have  I  ever  seen  on 
the  street  more  than  three  persons,  and  of  these 
not  one  would  be  a  woman. 

The  bay,  visible  from  every  point,  though 
in  itself  magnificent,  has  upon  its  broad  ex- 
panse not  a  single  sail  or  boat,  nor  any  sign  of 
human  life. 

To  this  solitude,  I  judged,  the  cordiality  of 
my  reception  might  be  partly  due.  The  chief 
difference,  apparently,  between  the  officials  and 
the  convicts  was  that  between  being  assigned 
and  being  committed. 

Punctually,  as  madame  had  indicated  to  me, 
we  sat  down  to  dinner  somewhere  about  half- 
past  one  or  half-past  two,  to  the  bewildering 
succession  of  courses  which  constitute  a  Russian 
dinner.  In  the  evening,  still  more  behind  the 
time  appointed,  madame  came  to  me  in  the 
garden  with  many  apologies  for  the  lateness  of 
the  supper.  It  being  Saturday  evening,  and  es- 
pecially a  fast-time,  she  had  been  obliged  to  go 
to  church,  and,  as  this  was  also  the  last  day  for 
the  confession  which  was  indispensable  to  to- 
morrow's communion,  the  service  had  been  an 

89 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

unusually  long  one.  This  Saturday  evening  serv- 
ice was  an  interesting  reminder  that  the  Greek 
Church,  like  the  Abyssinian,  and  unlike  some 
more  modern  sects,  holds  to  the  continued 
validity  of  the  whole  decalogue,  not  excluding 
the  fourth  commandment,  the  observance  of 
which  is  so  much  emphasized  in  the  Scripture 
context.  In  the  same  connection  it  was  a  very 
noticeable  fact  that  the  evening  of  Saturday  was 
the  only  one  on  which  no  visitors  called. 

When  smoking  on  the  veranda  at  sunset, 
I  gradually  became  aware  of  what  seemed  dis- 
tant music  ebbing  and  flowing  on  the  still 
evening  air  from  some  part  of  the  hillside  be- 
low us. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  to  those  who 
have  been  in  Russia  that  in  the  solemn  and 
effective  rendering  of  sacred  music,  which  is  ex- 
clusively vocal,  the  Russians  are  altogether  un- 
equalled.    Madame  S explained  to  me  that 

the  music  we  heard  was  from  the  parade-ground. 
In  the  Russian  Army,  as  in  the  Russian  Navy, 
at  the  close  of  evening  parade  a  regimental 
choir,  which  here  takes  the  place  of  a  regimental 
band,  leads  the  entire  command  in  a  choral 
rendering  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  sometimes 
of  other  parts  of  the  Greek  liturgy.  In  the  Ger- 
man Navy  I  have  observed  a  somewhat  similar 
custom.  This  was  done  not  only  on  Saturday 
90 


Korsakoffsk  Ways 

night  and  Sunday  night,  but  on  every  evening 
throughout  the  week.  The  service  occurring 
just  after  our  supper,  it  became  one  of  the  regu- 
lar events  to  which  I  looked  forward  with  ever- 
increasing  pleasure.  • 


91 


CHAPTER   VI 

MY   FIRST    SUNDAY    IN    KORSAKOFFSK 

On  my  first  Sunday  in  Korsakoffsk,  I  found 
breakfast  on  the  table  earlier  than  before,  but, 
excepting  myself,  nobody  sat  down  to  it.  This 
abstinence  on  the  part  of  the  household  I  found 
to  be  preparatory  to  the  communion,  which  was 
to  form  part  of  the  service  that  morning. 

Just  as  the  last  and  most  vigorous  of  the 
three  preliminary  bell-ringings  from  the  church 

commenced,  Madame  S hurriedly  excused 

herself  and  hastened  to  the  church,  followed 
soon  after  by  the  Governor,  who  left  me  to  fol- 
low on  at  my  leisure,  if  so  inclined. 

The  brilliant  sunshine,  the  bright  and  beau- 
tiful colours  of  the  wild  flowers  overrunning  the 
garden,  the  flashing,  sparkling  surface  of  the  sea 
beyond,  and  the  spotless  blue  of  the  sky,  sug- 
gested to  my  mind  such  grateful  aspiration  to 
their  Giver,  that  it  cost  me  quite  an  effort  to 
quit  my  contemplation  for  the  church  and  its 
more  ostensible  worship.  On  reaching  the 
building,  I  found  the  assemblage  in  front,  in 
92 


My  First  Sunday  in   Korsakoffsk 

various  groups,  as  motley  and  sadly  suggestive 
as  could  be  found  in  any  spot  on  this  wide 
world.  In  the  last  degree  it  was  picturesque 
and  pathetic.  Inside,  as  in  all  Greek  churches, 
there  were  no  seats,  not  even  one  for  the  Gov- 
ernor. Here,  in  a  degree  rarely  seen  in  other 
lands  which  are  Christian,  and  never  in  heathen 
countries,  the  church  is  a  place  in  which  all 
worshippers  share  and  share  alike;  to  this,  how- 
ever, I  was  prepared  to  find  an  exception  in 
Korsakoffsk.  The  church  was  crowded  to  the 
doors,  the  congregation  numbering  about  three 
or  four  hundred.  The  only  difference  in  the 
treatment  of  the  worshippers  had  its  good  rea- 
son. This  was  a  strip  of  carpet  on  the  stone 
pavement  for  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
ojfficers,  used  as  a  protection  for  their  knees  and 
dresses  during  their  many  and  prolonged  genu- 
flexions. 

The  Sunday-morning  toilets  of  these  free 
convicts  and  their  families  show  that  great  pains 
are  taken  by  each  person  to  wear  something  or 
other  which  is  both  an  ornament  and  a  souvenir 
of  a  former  home.  Thus,  by  a  bodice,  a  cravat, 
an  apron,  a  quaint  piece  of  jewellery,  or  what 
not,  all  of  the  most  ancient  date  even  where  they 
came  from,  this  little  out-of-the-world  congrega- 
tion was  linked  not  only  with  the  most  distant 
provinces  of  Russia,  but  even  with  many  coun- 
93 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tries  of  Europe  besides.  What  diversity! 
What  picturesqueness!  What  pathos!  in  these 
cherished  Httle  mementoes  they  had  preserved 
through  all  their  thousands  of  miles  of  travel 
under  conditions  so  painfully  adverse!  The 
humanness  of  it,  the  wholesome  moral  signifi- 
cance of  it,  impressed  me  immensely — so  much 
so  that  a  certain  ludicrous  feature  in  the  con- 
glomeration was  hardly  thought  of  till  after- 
ward. The  physiognomy  of  this  congregation 
would  have  been  a  mine  to  my  old  friend.  Pro- 
fessor Lombroso. 

In  the  faces  of  some,  murder  was  as  visible 
as  if  red-hot  branding  irons  had  burned  and 
stamped  "  Cain "  across  every  feature.  Re- 
specting the  larger  number,  however,  I  am 
bound  to  admit  that  my  principal  wonder  was 
how  these  persons  could  have  come  to  Sakha- 
lin at  all.  In  their  manners  the  diversity  was 
less,  deportment  being  a  prime  feature  in  the 
daily  conduct  of  all  of  them.  As  for  the  priest, 
I  have  rarely  seen  one  even  in  the  larger  cities 
of  Russia  whose  appearance  was  at  once  so  re- 
fined and  sympathetic.  A  Grseco-Roman  nose, 
a  high  forehead,  a  superbly  luxuriant  beard,  a 
pale  complexion,  manners  gentle  and  devout,  all 
combined  to  suggest  in  his  general  aspect  the 
type  adopted  by  the  old  masters  in  their  repre- 
sentations of  the  Christ. 
94 


My  First  Sunday  in   Korsakoffsk 

His  vestments  were,  for  such  a  poor  place, 
surprisingly  rich  and  beautiful.  Above  all,  the 
impression  of  simplicity  and  sincerity  in  both 
priest  and  people  was  so  predominant,  that  a 
casual  spectator  could  not  escape  from  joining 
in  the  general  devotion.  Fully  half  of  the  serv- 
ice was  read  by  laymen.  And  who  were  they? 
One  had  committed  a  murder,  as  I  afterward 
learned;  the  other,  a  crime  if  possible  still  more 
revolting.  Had  I  known  this  at  the  time,  I 
think  that  the  pathos  of  it  all  would  have  been 
barely  supportable.  The  choral  part  of  the  serv- 
ice was  good,  as  in  Russian  churches  it  almost 
invariably  is;  but  not  so  good,  I  thought,  as  that 
of  the  troops  I  had  heard  on  the  previous 
evening. 

The  church  choir,  which  was  antiphonal,  and 
therefore  a  large  one,  could  not,  however,  include 
any  members  of  the  military  choir,  as  soldiers  in 
the  imperial  service  are  not  allowed  to  associate 
openly  with  murderers,  exiles,  or  any  other  con- 
victs, under  any  circumstances  whatever. 

There  were  here  and  there  in  the  congrega- 
tion young  and  middle-aged  men  who  by  their 
dress,  manner,  and  general  appearance,  just  as 
they  stood,  would  be  judged  to  be  gentlemen 
anywhere.  I  found  that  these  were  good-con- 
duct men  engaged  chiefly  as  clerks  and  book- 
keepers in  the  offices  of  the  Administration. 
95 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

As  the  official  documents  concerning  every 
convict  are  not  only  in  duplicate,  but  in  double 
duplicate,  the  staff  of  clerks  employed  is  a  com- 
paratively large  one,  and  between  many  of  these 
and  their  superior  officers  the  relations  have  to 
be  quite  confidential.  To  men  in  these  posi- 
tions, special  privileges  are  granted,  their  lives 
being  thus  made  as  easy  and  agreeable  as  the 
regulations  will  allow — such,  indeed,  as  many 
free  people  might  envy.  The  church  attendance 
of  the  officials  on  Sunday  morning  is  part  of  the 
regulations.  In  the  case  of  the  free  convicts, 
however,  it  is  entirely  voluntary.  On  the  point 
of  sincerity  one  sinner  may  hardly  allow  himself 
to  judge  others,  but  what  seemed  like  sincerity 
was  so  conspicuous  that  under  its  spell  my  own 
heart  was  quickly  brought  into  unison  with  what 
I  felt  to  be  a  common  worship.  In  that  attitude 
of  higher  communion  came  a  sense  of  fellowship 
— a  fellowship  in  sacrifice;  a  sacrifice  as  of 
broken  hearts  and  contrite  spirits. 

At  a  certain  point  in  the  service,  the  priest 
came  forward  and,  standing  on  the  lowest  chan- 
cel step,  which  in  the  Greek  Church  is  used  in 
rightful  preference  to  a  pulpit,  gave  a  plain, 
practical  gospel  address.  It  was  a  model  at  least 
in  this — that  it  lasted  only  about  ten  minutes. 
This  address  was  followed  by  the  administration 
of  the  communion  service. 

96 


My  First  Sunday  in  Korsakoffsk 

One  feature  in  fine  contrast  to  the  custom 
in  Protestant  communions  is  this — that  the  flock 
is  first,  the  shepherd  next;  it  was  the  children, 
not  the  priest,  who  were  the  first  recipients  of 
the  elements.  This  struck  me  as  highly  consist- 
ent and  suggestive.  The  elements  employed 
were:  bread,  which  is  always  made  expressly  for 
the  purpose  by  the  priest's  wife;  wine,  to  which 
are  added  three  parts  of  water,  which  is  warm, 
in  imitation  of  the  blood  which  flowed  from  the 
Saviour's  wounded  side.  The  bread,  the  wine, 
and  the  water  being  duly  mixed  together  in  a 
chalice,  the  priest,  with  a  small  silver  spoon, 
puts  a  little  of  the  mixture  into  the  mouths  of 
the  infants  held  by  the  mothers  in  a  row  at  the 
chancel  steps.  The  cross  having  been  put  to 
their  lips,  they  were  dismissed  to  their  homes. 

After  a  short  interval  of  music  by  the  choir, 
the  Royal  Gates  were  thrown  back,  and  the 
priest  reappeared,  carrying,  on  a  level  with  his 
face,  a  chalice  covered  with  a  napkin.  Address- 
ing the  communicants,  he  said:  "  In  the  fear  of 
the  Lord  and  in  peace,  come  ye.'* 

This  was  followed  by  a  liturgical  confession 
repeated  in  unison. 

At  each  communion  the  priest  said:  "The 

servant  of  God  .  .  .  communicates  in  the  name 

of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 

Ghost."   The  administration  was  the  same  as  de- 

9  97 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

scribed  in  the  case  of  the  infants,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  a  lay  reader,  who  assisted  the  priest, 
held  under  the  chin  of  the  person  communica- 
ting a  little  silk  serviette,  with  which  he  after- 
ward wiped  the  lips  of  the  communicant,  who 
then  kissed  the  edge  of  the  chalice  and  the  cross 
which  the  priest  put  to  his  lips. 

On  a  table  in  the  east  corner  of  the  church 
was  a  pile  of  exquisitely  white  little  loaves,  cov- 
ered all  over  with  little  spear-shaped  incisions. 
On  returning  to  their  places  a  number  of  the 
communicants  called  at  this  table  and  purchased 
one  or  more  of  these  rolls,  which  they  carefully 
wrapped  in  white  linen  for  friends  or  others 
unable  to  attend  the  church. 

I  was  once  allowed  to  go  behind  the  Royal 
Gates,  in  what  might  be  termed  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  both  before  and  during  the  whole  of  a 
communion  service  in  the  largest  and  most 
important  of  the  churches  in  St.  Petersburg. 
On  a  table  in  a  recess  close  behind  me  was  a 
large  pile  of  these  little  rolls  with  a  cross 
stamped  on  them.  A  short  liturgy  was  said 
over  them  by  a  deacon,  who  then  with  a  spear- 
shaped  knife  carefully  made  on  each  of  them 
a  number  of  the  spear-shaped  incisions  I  have 
mentioned.  They  represent  the  spear-wounds  in 
the  Saviour's  body.  The  pieces  cut  out  were 
kept  to  be  mixed  with  the  wine  and  water. 

98 


My  First  Sunday  in   Korsakoffsk 

In  the  Greek  service  the  Nicene  Creed  was 
used.  Much  of  the  litany,  also  a  good  part  of 
the  post-communion  service,  was  identical  with 
that  so  familiar  to  us  in  the  Roman  and  Angli- 
can churches.  Hence,  in  part,  perhaps,  the  fact 
that,  as  I  joined  with  these  unfortunates  in  this 
service,  the  consciousness  of  distance  and  differ- 
ence which  may  come  to  the  reader  almost  en- 
tirely faded  from  my  mind. 

As  I  afterward  thought  of  the  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  murderers  who  in  other  Christian 
countries  had  been  sent  with  short  shrift  to  their 
eternal  doom  by  the  hands  of  society  within  our 
own  time,  I  could  but  reflect  upon  the  scene  in 
which  I  had  shared  with  profound  thankfulness 
for  the  difference. 

The  service  over,  it  was  pleasant  to  witness 
the  affectionate  adieus,  and  to  watch  the  pious 
care  with  which  many  of  these  unfortunates 
were  carrying  home  to  invalid  friends  and  others 
the  sacred  bread,  a  memorial  of  the  one  sacrifice 
made  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  even  for 
thieves  and  murderers. 

After  twelve  o'clock  it  became  evident  that 
the  Sabbath  in  its  strict  sense  was  at  an  end.  I 
observed  an  unusual  elongation  and  elegance  in 
our  dinner-table,  which  seemed  suggestive  of  a 
general  break-up  of  the  fast  many  had  been  ob- 
serving. Within  half  an  hour  after  our  return 
99 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

home,  the  first  of  many  guests  to  arrive  was  our 
good  priest,  and  I  was  delighted  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  him.  The  more  we  were 
together,  the  more  did  he  confirm  in  private  the 
excellent  impression  he  had  made  upon  me  in 
public. 

Afterward  came  in,  one  by  one,  several  of  the 
officers  I  had  met  on  the  evening  of  my  arrival. 
Then  came  the  wife  and  eldest  daughter  of  the 
priest.  The  latter,  in  addressing  her  mother, 
used  the  same  word  as  an  American  girl  would 
employ — "  mamma  " — while  her  father  was  ad- 
dressed not  only  by  her,  but  by  everybody  else, 
with  the  priestly  and  paternal  word  "  papa."  Its 
use  in  this  case  was  evidently  in  part  a  sincere 
and  respectful  term  of  endearment,  as  well  as  of 
ordinary  custom. 

Some  of  the  officers'  wives  who  had  not  be- 
fore seen  the  Governor  since  his  return  were 
particularly  enthusiastic  and  cordial  in  their 
greetings.  It  soon  appeared  that  some  of  the 
visitors  had  come  not  simply  to  dinner,  but,  in 
Siberian  fashion,  to  stay  the  rest  of  the  day. 
From  one  and  another  of  the  ladies,  I  now 
learned  that  the  festivities  which  were  manifest- 
ly imminent  were  partly  in  honour  of  myself,  to 
whom  everybody  who  arrived  was  promptly  pre- 
sented. Not  only  a  number  of  the  ladies,  but 
several  of  the  officers  told  me  that  they  had 

100 


My  First  Sunday  in  KorsakofFsk 

never  seen  an  "  Englees  "  or  an  "  Americana  " 
before,  and  that  I  was  the  first  foreigner  who 
had  ever  stayed  in  KorsakofTsk  for  a  single  night. 
None  of  them  could  pronounce  the  word  "  Eng- 
lish "  as  in  the  vernacular;  the  word  "  Ameri- 
cana "  required  no  efifort  whatever.  It  being 
known  that  I  was  to  be  a  resident  in  the  settle- 
ment for  a  considerable  period,  the  questions 
naturally  enough  were  innumerable. 

They  knew  that  only  as  the  Governor's 
guest  could  I  have  come  to  Korsakoffsk,  and 
I  had  reasons  for  suspecting  that  my  host  had 
already  chosen  to  make  himself  responsible  for 
more  than  one  exaggeration  about  me,  intended 
to  be  in  my  favour.  Perhaps  the  predominant 
impression  which  seemed  to  have  gained  cur- 
rency concerning  me,  especially  among  the  la- 
dies, was  that  I  must  be  exceedingly  rich,  for, 
said  they,  nobody  could  travel  so  far  merely  for 
pleasure,  unless  he  had  the  money  to  do  it  with. 
The  interest  of  my  newly  made  friends  extended 
even  to  my  clothes,  which  several  of  them  po- 
litely asked  permission  to  examine. 

A  little  bell  tinkled  in  the  garden  tent,  and 
quickly  and  as  informally  as  by  children  at  a  pic- 
nic, the  seats  at  the  table  were  occupied.  With- 
out loss  of  time  the  priest  said  his  apt  three- 
word  grace,  all  crossed  themselves,  and  the 
preliminary  vodka  was  passed  around.     Before 

lOI 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

anybody  had  time  to  taste  it,  however,  the  alert 
Governor  jumped  up,  and  impulsively  proposed 
"  the  health  of  our  distinguished  guest."  They 
insisted  on  drinking  the  toast  three  times. 
They  seemed  to  find  some  amusement  in  my  lit- 
tle response,  especially  in  my  reference  to  the 
amiable  but  artful  trick  by  which  they  had  all 
got  three  drinks  ahead  of  me  at  the  start.  The 
raw  ham,  sardines,  potato-salad,  the  cucumbers 
which  were  eaten  as  we  eat  apples,  pickles, 
caviare,  various  cold  meats,  the  alternations  of 
vodka  and  cigarettes,  were  only  to  give  us  appe- 
tite. The  real  dinner  itself  began  with  soup, 
accompanied  by  tiny  hashed  meat  dumplings, 
such  as  I  have  enjoyed  at  private  native  tables  in 
Canton  and  in  some  parts  of  Austria.  They 
were  so  delicious  that  they  might  have  made  an 
excellent  meal  by  themselves. 

The  inevitable  huge  fish-pie,  to  refuse  which 
would  be  equivalent  to  a  discourtesy  both  to 
the  host  and  to  the  Russian  flag,  was  followed 
by  boiled  beef,  roast  chicken,  and  salad,  with  a 
good  variety  of  vegetables  and  pickles,  among 
which  beets  were  conspicuous. 

The  sweets  were  blanc-mange,  varieties  of 
cream,  clotted  and  otherwise,  for  which  our 
hostess  was  famous,  a  great  variety  of  fruit  con- 
serves, jellies,  native  wild  strawberries  wdth 
cream,  and  confections,  etc.  The  beverages, 
1 02 


My  First  Sunday  in   Korsakoffsk 

which,  with  cigarettes,  were  literally  forced  on 
one  throughout  the  dinner,  included  bottled 
beer,  German  wines,  and  champagne.  There 
was  one  thing  which  seemed  to  be  quite  un- 
heard of  there — that  was  water. 

When  dessert  was  reached,  a  new  contingent 
of  friends  arrived.  For  these  the  table  was  ex- 
tended across  the  path  reaching  to  the  grass- 
plot,  and  nothing  could  prevent  madame  from 
having  them  served  with  every  course  from  the 
beginning  until  they  caught  up  with  the  rest 
of  us. 

Talk  about  the  sullenness,  the  gloominess 
of  the  Russian!  Only  in  a  Vienna  restaurant 
could  one  hear  such  a  babel  of  argument.  Talk 
of  the  oppression  of  women  in  Russia!  From 
the  gestures  of  some  of  the  ladies  it  seemed 
that  if  there  was  domestic  oppression  in  Korsa- 
kofTsk,  the  ladies  were  certainly  not  the  victims. 

The  spontaneity,  informality,  and  enthusi- 
asm of  these  good  people,  their  overwhelming 
good-nature,  and  their  courtesy  would  elsewhere 
have  seemed  almost  excessive.  But  the  artless- 
ness,  the  sincerity  of  it  all  was  magnificent. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  when 
the  larger  number  of  the  guests  had  excused 
themselves  for  a  temporary  visit  to  their  neigh- 
bouring homes,  a  visiting  card  was  handed  to 
the  Governor.  This,  the  first  visiting  card  I  had 
103 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

yet  seen  in  Korsakoffsk,  was  quickly  followed 
by  the  gentleman  announced,  who  presented 
himself  in  the  garden  attired  in  full  evening  cos- 
tume. The  Governor  received  him  in  a  manner 
which  combined  official  dignity  with  courtesy, 
and,  after  a  little  amiable  chat,  called  for  a  glass 
and  cigarettes. 

The  visitor,  however,  taking  only  a  glass  of 
tea,  mildly  excused  himself  from  smoking,  and 
after  only  a  few  minutes'  stay,  with  courteous 
formality  took  his  departure. 

I  ascertained  that  he  was  a  newly  arrived 
doctor,  a  civilian  in  the  Government  service, 
who  had  been  sent  to  take  medical  charge  of  the 
civil  department  of  the  station,  in  the  place  of 
the  other  surgeon  I  have  mentioned,  who  had 
left  on  the  Baikall.  This  was  his  call  of  cere- 
mony on  his  chief,  to  report  himself  for  the  du- 
ties of  the  post  to  which  he  had  been  assigned. 
I  suspected  that  the  recent  prison  escapes  had 
something  to  do  with  the  change. 

As  I  may  have  more  to  say  about  this  good 
doctor  and  future  friend  farther  on,  I  will  now 
merely  remark  in  passing,  that  I  suspected  his 
position  to  be  one  requiring  considerable  tact 
and  self-respect,  both  of  which  he  exhibited  in 
an  admirable  degree. 

Between  six  and  seven  o'clock  several  of  the 
guests  who  had  absented  themselves  returned, 
104 


My  First  Sunday  in   Korsakoffsk 

as  is  the  habit  in  Korsakoffsk,  in  time  for  early 
supper. 

About  nine  o'clock  much  larger  contingents 
of  visitors  arrived,  until,  with  one  exception 
only,  every  official  family  of  the  settlement  was 
represented.     The  good-natured  tact  and  skill 

of  Madame  S now  more  than  ever  were 

perpetually  manifest.  Her  brilliant  perform- 
ances of  Bach  and  other  classical  selections  on 
her  piano,  which  was  the  only  one  in  the  settle- 
ment, might  have  excited  the  envy  of  many  pro- 
fessional pianists,  while  her  songs  were  rendered 
with  a  voice  which,  though  not  strong,  was  ex- 
ceedingly sweet  and  sympathetic. 

Two  or  three  of  the  officers  also  played  in 
fairly  good  style,  and  one  or  more  sang,  if  not 
classically,  yet  with  good  enough  effect  to  fur- 
nish a  very  agreeable  diversion. 

Then  came  the  inevitable  dancing.  The  first 
waltz  was  led  by  the  Governor  and  the  priest's 
eldest  daughter,  a  fine  buxom  girl,  though  only 
about  sixteen,  who,  taking  after  her  father,  had 
considerable  beauty,  and,  being  the  pet  of  the 
settlement,  was  as  full  of  innocent  joyousness  as 
good  health,  good-nature,  and  complete  unre- 
straint could  make  her.  Eugenie  was  the  only 
young  lady,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  in  the 
settlement,  and  in  it  she  was  queen.  She  knew 
this,  and,  notwithstanding  her  naturalness,  the 
105 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

consciousness  of  her  power  occasionally  revealed 
itself  in  ways  which  were  exquisitely  amusing. 

With  his  prodigious  size,  his  military  bear- 
ing, and  his  stentorian  voice,  there  was  not  in 
the  whole  island  another  officer  who,  apart  from 
his  rank,  could  so  terrify  a  gang  of  murderers  as 
could  my  host  the  Governor;  yet  among  the 
smaller  playmates  of  Eugenie  there  was  not  one 
who  was  more  completely  her  slave. 

Alone  of  all  his  friends,  this  child  habitually 
addressed  him  as  Alexandrovitch.  The  fact  is, 
that  there  was  about  this  outwardly  austere  and 
much-dreaded  Governor,  a  secret,  one  which  he 
most  carefully  guarded,  just  because  it  was  so 
troublesome  to  conceal.  Beneath  all  his  official 
severity  there  was  ever  beating  a  heart  which 
was  as  young  and  as  tender  as  that  of  Eugenie. 
Hence  it  was  that,  while  so  dreaded  by  some,  he 
was  the  life  and  soul  of  every  little  tea-party  in 
the  settlement.  His  two  selves  had  never  been 
introduced  to  each  other.  Had  such  an  intro- 
duction been  attempted  by  anybody,  it  would 
have  been  resented  by  the  official  and  starched 
self  as  a  personal  indignity. 

There  were  some  very  amusing  attempts  by 
some  of  the  guests  to  repeat  after  me  my  name 
in  English.  Failing  in  this,  they  tried  to  convert 
it  into  Russian.  After  numerous  revised  ver- 
sions I  was  at  last  reduced  to  Venyamin  Villi- 
io6 


My  First  Sunday  in   KorsakofFsk 

yamovitch.  By  a  final  vote,  however,  it  was 
agreed  among  them  that,  as  it  was  shorter  and 
more  distinctive,  I  should  be  called  "  Misteror," 
and  thereafter,  with  several  of  them,  plain  ''  Mis- 
teror," or  ''  the  Mister,"  was  my  designation  to 
the  end  of  my  visit. 

The  question  next  in  importance,  and  in 
whose  discussion  the  Governor  joined,  was, 
whether  I  intended  to  write  a  book  and,  if  so, 
which  of  them  would  I  put  in  it?  There  was 
a  chorus  of  "  Don't  forget  me!  Put  me  in,"  etc., 
from  over  a  dozen  of  them.  I  told  them  that  I 
never  had  written  a  book  of  travel,  and  never  in- 
tended to  do  so,  as  I  was  too  lazy  to  make  the 
exertion,  but  that  if  I  ever  did  I  should  probably 
put  every  one  of  them  in  it,  especially  those  who 
would  give  me  their  portraits.  I  knew  that 
none  of  them  had  portraits  to  give;  that,  if  ever 
I  did  write  a  book  about  Korsakoffsk,  I  should 
withhold  my  comments  for  at  least  four  or  five 
years,  by  which  time  all  now  on  duty  there 
would,  according  to  custom,  have  been  shifted 
to  other  posts.  Though  made  lightly,  and  of 
my  own  accord,  that  promise  has  been  faithfully 
kept. 

One  of  the  ladies  said  that  she  had  seen  me 
riding  horseback  the  day  before,  and  intended 
to  make  the  Governor  arrange  for  me  to  give 
her  some  riding  lessons. 
107 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

In  such  ways  the  "  Misteror "  was  rapidly 
being  installed  as  a  veritable  member  of  the 
Korsakoffsk  colony,  with  almost  all  the  rights 
and  more  than  the  ordinary  privileges  thereunto 
belonging. 

The  newly  appointed  civil  surgeon  of  the 
post  did  not  appear  during  the  evening,  but  the 
military  surgeon  of  the  garrison  did,  and  by  his 
playing  and  singing  contributed  not  a  little  to 
the  general  enjoyment.  As  the  priest,  like  my- 
self, did  not  dance,  we  took  the  opportunity  of 
having  considerable  conversation  together. 

As  is  usual  in  Russia,  particularly  in  Siberia, 
the  relation  of  the  priest  in  private  seemed  to  be 
one  of  respectful  companionship  with  every- 
body. My  own  acquaintance  with  him  gradu- 
ally ripened  into  a  friendship  I  trust  nothing  will 
ever  interrupt. 

With  great  nicety  of  clerical  taste,  he  and  his 
family  left  earlier  than  the  other  guests,  but  not 
before  Madame  S had  with  proud  satisfac- 
tion displayed  to  all  the  guests  a  book  which  had 
the  appearance  of  a  small  ledger.  It  was  a  book 
of  subscriptions  for  her  day  school,  an  institu- 
tion for  the  children  of  exiles  and  convicts  con- 
trolled and  supported  by  her  with  the  help  of 
her  visitors  and  friends.  She  wished  to  show 
some  very  pleasing  entries  which  had  been 
made  in  it  during  the  past  week,  and  thus  quiet- 
io8 


My  First  Sunday  in  Korsakoffsk 

ly  to  suggest  that  these  recent  examples  by 
guests  were  worthy  of  imitation.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ure to  observe  that  this  delicate  piece  of  tactful- 
ness  was  not  without  its  immediate  results. 
Also,  that  this  excellent  charity  had  from  its 
commencement  never  lacked  habitual  sympathy 
and  support  from  the  officials  and  families  of  the 
settlement. 

My  bed,  as  I  have  previously  said,  was  in  the 
room  through  which  every  guest  must  pass  on 
entering  or  leaving  the  house,  for  the  idea  of  a 
spare  bedroom  had  never  entered  the  head  of 
even  the  largest  householder  in  the  island  of 
Sakhalin. 

As  soon  as  the  last  visitor  had  departed,  I 
thankfully  stretched  myself  on  my  little  cot,  and, 
forgetful  of  the  previous  night,  fell  quietly  into  a 
sleep  which  was  unbroken  till  morning. 

The  experiences  of  any  traveller  given  con- 
secutively in  diary  form  are  apt  to  be  tedious  in 
the  reading.  For  the  period  covering  the  first 
few  days  of  my  life  in  Korsakoffsk,  I  have  never- 
theless adopted  this  method,  because  I  have 
thought  that  in  this  way  the  reader  might  the 
more  vividly  share  my  impressions  as  I  was 
being  gradually  hatched  into  social  existence  as 
a  member  of  this  strange,  distant,  and  isolated 
community. 

Following  what  I  am  sure  will  be  a  general 
109 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

preference,  I  will  hereafter,  however,  address 
myself  rather  to  topics,  and  speak  of  persons, 
things,  or  incidents  encountered  at  different 
times,  my  selection  being  governed  chiefly  by 
the  questions  which  have  been  more  commonly 
put  to  me  since  my  return. 


no 


V. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    KORSAKOFFSK   PRISON 

To  those  whose  notions  of  a  prison  have 
been  gained  from  massive,  imposing,  and  im- 
pregnable structures  of  solid  masonry  such  as 
the  old  Tombs  in  New  York  city,  the  peniten- 
tiaries at  Sing  Sing,  or  Auburn,  or  any  of  the 
jails  in  England,  the  structure  of  the  prison  of 
KorsakofTsk  would  be  both  a  surprise  and  a  dis- 
appointment. 

Place  such  a  structure  as  this  Korsakoffsk 
prison  in  the  suburbs  of  any  town  or  city  in 
England  or  America,  even  in  the  more  western 
of  its  States,  and  not  one  stranger  in  fifty  would 
at  first  sight  correctly  guess  the  intention  or 
real  use  made  of  it.  Eight  out  of  ten  of  such 
persons  would  probably  conjecture  it  to  be  an 
extensive  block  of  warehouses  for  storage,  or 
else  a  factory,  say,  of  agricultural  implements, 
or  something  of  that  sort.  The  principal  objec- 
tion to  the  warehouse  guess  would  be  the  appar- 
ent insecurity  of  the  buildings,  especially  against 
fire — a  defect  which,  it  may  be  remarked  here, 
III 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

is  of  special  consequence  in  Siberia,  where  fire, 
always  obtainable  by  the  most  destitute  persons, 
is  more  frequently  employed  than  perhaps  in 
any  other  country  as  a  weapon  of  resentment 
and  revenge,  and  also  to  facilitate  robbery  and 
murder,  and  the  escape  of  the  culprits  amid  the 
general  excitement  and  confusion. 

The  prison  of  Korsakoffsk  consists  of  long 
ranges  of  buildings  which  completely  inclose 
an  irregular  quadrangle  of  some  two  or  three 
acres  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  on  which  the  set- 
tlement is  built.  These  buildings,  like  nearly  all 
the  prisons  in  Siberia,  are,  with  the  exception  of 
the  chimneys,  constructed  exclusively  of  wood, 
which  is  left  in  its  natural  state  and  therefore 
quickly  acquires  an  appearance  of  great  shab- 
biness. 

Nearly  all  the  buildings  used  for  the  lodg- 
ment or  confinement  of  prisoners  are  single- 
storied,  and,  except  on  the  north  and  west  sides, 
the  prison  buildings  at  Korsakofifsk  abut  direct- 
ly upon  the  street  or  open  country.  On  the 
north  and  west  sides  they  are  surrounded  by  a 
stockade  of  sharply  pointed  timbers  about  eight 
or  ten  feet  high.  Even  on  the  north  side,  where 
the  stockade  is  supplemented  by  a  trench,  the 
fence  seems  chiefly  intended  to  indicate  that  per- 
sons are  requested  not  to  pass  that  way.  As  a 
protection  to  an  apple-orchard,  it  would  simply 

112 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

offer  an  additional  temptation  to  a  daring 
school-boy.  This  apparent  insecurity  plainly 
points  to  the  fact,  so  well  known  to  all  con- 
cerned, that  the  fire  is  even  hotter  than  the  fry- 
ing-pan. The  temptations  to  escape  from  the 
prison  into  the  forests  are  so  tempered  by  the 
terrible  dangers  incident  to  success,  that  only 
when  desperation  engenders  madness  will  a  con- 
vict venture  on  such  an  enterprise. 

The  immense  irregular  quadrangle  inclosed 
within  the  prison  buildings  is  divided  into  three 
smaller  ones — the  northern,  the  central,  and  the 
southern.  The  northern  is  again  divided  into 
other  quadrangles  or  yards,  each  of  which  is 
devoted  to  a  special  class  of  prisoners. 

The  buildings  along  the  southern  and  east- 
ern portion  of  the  southern  quadrangle  are  of 
two  stories,  and  are  used  chiefly  as  workshops. 
In  these  there  are  several  departments.  They 
include  carpenter's,  cabinet-maker's,  shoemak- 
er's, and  tailor's  shops,  the  latter  being  the 
largest.  In  the  cabinet-maker's  shop  was  made 
the  exquisite  furniture  of  the  Governor's  house, 
which  I  have  referred  to,  and  excellent  speci- 
mens of  its  work  are  seen  in  the  police  court  and 
in  other  of^cial  buildings.  I  saw  in  this  shop 
some  capital  fretwork  and  carving  for  the  out- 
side of  a  new  government  building  then  under 
construction  opposite  the  police  court.  The 
113 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

skilled  workmen  in  this  shop,  I  was  told,  re- 
ceived special  bonuses;  and,  so  far  as  their  gen- 
eral appearance  and  demeanour  was  concerned, 
there  was  little  or  nothing  in  that  shop  to  sug- 
gest the  idea  of  penal  servitude.  A  considerable 
proportion  of  these  men  lived  in  their  own  cot- 
tages in  the  vicinity,  and  went  to  and  fro  as  me- 
chanics would  do  in  ordinary  life  anywhere. 

With  the  carpenters  it  was  much  the  same, 
except  that,  as  the  nature  of  their  work  made  it 
necessary  to  make  frequent  and  irregular  trips 
between  the  shop  and  buildings  under  construc- 
tion, a  greater  air  of  freedom  was  observed 
among  them. 

Being  myself  very  fond  of  mechanical  work 
when  it  is  done  by  somebody  else,  I  made  fre- 
quent visits  to  the  large  building  then  under 
construction.  The  principal  hindrance  to  such 
visits  in  my  own  mind  was  the  regulation  accord- 
ing to  which  on  my  approach  every  workman 
near  me  would  stop  work,  dofT  his  cap,  come  to 
the  position  of  attention  with  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ground,  and  so  remain  until  I  motioned  him  to 
resume  his  work  again.  These  men,  like  all 
Russian  carpenters,  were  particularly  skilful  in 
the  use  of  the  adze  and  hatchet,  and  I  was  very 
fond  of  watching  their  clever  performances  in 
this  particular. 

If  I  happened  to  meet  any  of  them  in  the 
114 


The  KorsakofFsk   Prison 

street,  and  they  had  a  load  which  made  a  salute 
impracticable,  they  would  very  properly  attend 
to  their  work  without  taking  notice  of  me. 

In  the  boot-and-shoe  shops,  and  in  the  tail- 
oring shop,  there  was  a  prevailing  tone  of  re- 
straint. The  shops  in  these  departments  re- 
minded me  of  the  corresponding  workshops  I 
have  visited  in  various  State  prisons  in  America, 
especially  in  the  States  of  New  York  and  Ohio, 
except  that  in  everything  the  Korsakoflfsk  shops 
exhibited  incomparably  less  neatness,  order,  and 
method,  and  that  the  principle  of  silence  was  not 
so  rigidly  maintained  even  during  official  visits. 

For  the  number  of  men  employed  the  air 
space  was  more  than  adequate,  and  vastly  great- 
er than  I  have  seen  in  the  shops  and  lodgings  of 
free  working  people  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  more 
particularly  in  Moscow. 

In  the  southern  quadrangle  are  situated  the 
only  private  or  solitary  cells  I  was  able  to  find 
in  any  part  of  the  prison.  I  do  not  undertake 
to  say  that  no  other  solitary  cells  existed  there. 
I  could  hardly  command  every  door  in  the  es- 
tablishment to  be  opened,  hence  I  merely  say 
that  in  the  course  of  my  free  wanderings  about 
the  institution  I  did  not  succeed  in  discovering 
any  others,  not  even  in  the  parts  of  the  prison  in 
which  were  pointed  out  to  me  the  most  desper- 
ate of  all  the  criminals  in  the  prison,  who  were 
115 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

under  special  restraint.  The  restraint  in  all  these 
cases  was  of  quite  a  different  kind,  partly,  I 
thought,  as  a  matter  of  economy.  The  only 
solitary  cells  I  did  find  were  to  my  surprise  not 
only  in  this  most  privileged  quadrangle,  but, 
properly  speaking,  not  cells  at  all.  Further,  in- 
stead of  being  an  extra  punishment,  they  were 
granted  only  as  special  concessions  to  the  more 
privileged  prisoners,  that  they  might  thus  be 
spared  association  and  contact  with  the  general 
herd  in  the  large  kameras. 

In  one  of  my  wanderings  about  the  prison 
an  ofificer  who  joined  me  asked  me  if  I  had  ever 
called  on  either  of  the  princes.  He  seemed  sur- 
prised that  I  had  not,  and  at  once  proposed  that 
we  should  do  so,  as  he  was  sure  that  they  would 
be  glad  to  have  a  chat  with  me. 

Taking  me  across  the  yard,  he  knocked  on 
a  little  door  opening  right  into  the  quadrangle, 
but,  getting  no  answer,  opened  it,  passed 
through  a  small  lobby,  and  knocked  on  another 
door  at  the  farther  end.  This  was  at  once 
opened  by  a  rather  shabbily  but  very  neatly 
dressed  man,  who  greeted  him  with  a  distin- 
guished but  subdued  courtesy,  which  gradually 
melted  into  an  unaffected  cordiality  that  was 
thoroughly  returned. 

The  major,  who  introduced  me  in  a  manner 
which  was  as  respectful  to  the  prisoner  as  it 
ii6 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

would  have  been  to  a  fellow-officer,  explained 
the  liberty  he  had  taken  by  the  pleasure  he 
thought  it  would  afford  the  prince  to  meet  one 
from  such  a  distance,  and,  taking  out  his  cigar- 
ettes, he  made  the  prince  lead  the  way  in  a  gen- 
eral and  fraternal  smoke. 

A  slight  nervousness  and  timidity  in  the  no- 
bleman's manner  being  thus  in  some  degree 
abated,  we  soon  launched  into  an  easy  conver- 
sation, which  was  so  unrestrained  that  I  ven- 
tured to  shift  my  general  remarks  to  personal 
inquiries  respecting  himself,  his  present  rou- 
tine of  living,  occupation,  and  diversion,  and  the 
extent  to  which  he  had  acquired  tolerance  of  the 
daily  monotony. 

As  this  daily  routine  of  his  included  but 
little  outside  the  cell  in  which  we  were  convers- 
ing, perhaps  I  had  better  mention  that  this  was 
a  room  in  which  floors,  walls,  and  ceiling  were 
all  of  bare  wood.  It  was  about  fourteen  feet  by 
ten  in  size,  about  twelve  feet  high,  and  pro- 
vided with  a  fairly  large  but  grated  window. 
This  admitted  plenty  of  light,  but  through  it 
nothing  could  be  seen  but  the  sky,  unless  one 
stood  upon  a  chair  or  table,  when  he  could  gaze 
over  a  fine  landscape  for  twenty  miles.  This  cell 
contained  a  rough  wooden  cot  with  a  neat-look- 
ing bed,  a  long,  narrow  table,  two  rough  chairs 
and  a  stool,  a  fireplace,  little  shelves  here  and 
117 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

there,  and  a  bench,  which  appeared  to  be  used 
for  some  kind  of  work.  The  whole  was  scrupu- 
lously neat.  In  person  the  prince  was  rather  tall 
and  thin,  with  a  very  refined,  dark,  pale  face  set 
off  by  very  dark  hair  and  beard,  trimmed  with 
great  neatness.  I  felt  that  not  only  now  but  at 
all  times,  he  must  have  been  a  man  of  gentle 
disposition. 

In  answer  to  my  personal  questions,  he 
pointed  to  about  a  dozen  small,  greasy,  half- 
worn-out  old  books,  of  which  two  were  Latin, 
two  German,  and  the  rest  Russian.  The  bench, 
with  a  variety  of  odd  materials  upon  it,  I  found 
he  used  in  the  manufacture  of  little  memoran- 
dum pocket-books — one  of  these  rude  examples 
of  his  skill  he  was  good  enough  to  present  to 
me,  and  J  have  it  with  me  at  this  moment  as  a 
souvenir  of  my  visit.  Having  ascertained  from 
the  major  that  he  would  not  be  offended  by  it, 
I  praised  his  workmanship,  and  apologetically 
placed  on  his  little  bench  a  couple  of  roubles. 
Although  anywhere  else  this  rough  specimen  of 
workmanship  would  not  fetch  five  cents,  I  was 
glad  of  the  excuse  for  a  compliment  and  a  con- 
tribution to  his  slender  finances.  I  was  assured 
by  my  friend  that  the  prince  was  more  grateful 
for  this  than  he  cared  to  express. 

As  I  shall  have  to  refer  to  this  gentleman 
again,  I  will  only  say  now  that  our  visit,  which 
ii8 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

lasted  for  about  half  an  hour,  was  a  very  agree- 
able one  not  only  to  myself  and  my  friend,  but 
also,  I  think,  to  the  prince,  to  whom  it  must 
have  afforded  at  least  an  agreeable  diversion; 
and,  judging  from  his  cordiality  when  we  parted, 
I  believe  that  he  thoroughly  appreciated  it.  I 
was  much  struck  by  the  courteous  and  respect- 
ful manner  in  which  the  prince  was  treated  by 
the  major,  and  to  observe  that  this  was  evidently 
not  at  all  affected  for  this  special  occasion,  but 
fairly  illustrated  the  consideration  and  sympathy 
which  the  distinguished  prisoner  was  in  the 
habit  of  receiving  from  the  other  officials  also. 

So  far  as  the  bed  and  general  appointments 
of  the  prince's  quarters  were  concerned,  it  is 
only  fair  to  say  that,  though  smaller,  his  cell  or 
lodging  was  quite  as  comfortable  and  neat  as 
the  average  of  the  apartments  of  the  unmarried 
military  and  civil  officers  in  the  settlement. 

For  special  reasons,  the  prince  was  strictly 
confined  to  the  prison  area;  he  took  his  exercise 
as  he  pleased  in  the  southern  quadrangle,  and  his 
life  was  as  completely  separate  from  that  of  the 
general  prisoners  as  was  that  of  many  of  the 
officials. 

There  was  another  solitary  cell  in  this  quad- 
rangle, occupied  by  another  prisoner  who  was 
also  a  prince.  His  quarters,  which  were  pointed' 
out  to  me,  were  about  the  same  as  the  cell  I 
119 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  described.  His  general  treatment,  too,  I 
was  informed,  was  conducted  on  the  same  lines. 

The  central  quadrangle  into  which  the  main 
entrance  to  the  prison  opened  had  to  be  crossed 
in  going  to  either  of  the  others.  Its  eastern 
flank  consisted  of  the  guard-house  and  officers' 
quarters;  the  western  of  kameras,  chiefly  occu- 
pied by  the  good-conduct  second-year  prison- 
ers, who  were  busy  elsewhere  during  the  day. 
At  such  times,  therefore,  these  buildings  were 
usually  almost  empty,  and  presented  nothing 
whatever  worthy  of  mention. 

The  northern  quadrangle,  separated  from 
the  central  one  by  a  strong  stockade,  was  chiefly 
occupied  by  the  first-year  prisoners.  The  build- 
ings on  the  northern  side  of  it  contained  those 
who  were  considered  the  most  desperate,  such  as 
in  Europe  would  be  kept  in  solitary  cells  for  life. 
Not  a  single  cell,  nor  even  a  special-punishment 
cell,  was  I  able  to  find  in  this  quadrangle. 

The  only  distinctive  feature  I  could  discover 
in  this  northern  range  was  not  in  the  size  of  the 
rooms,  which  were  as  large  and  airy  as  any  of 
the  others,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  prisoners 
there  were  strictly  confined  to  their  quarters, 
and  that  every  one  of  them  wore  the  maximum 
fourteen-pound  chains  all  the  time.  The  weight 
included  the  leg  chains,  which  were  attached 
from  a  waist-belt  and  could  be  raised  by  a  string 

I20 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

in  walking,  and  the  wrist-chains,  which  were 
also  attached  to  the  same  belt.  These  chains 
constituted  what  was  considered  a  sufficient  en- 
cumbrance to  preclude  escape,  though  they  did 
not  interfere  with  the  necessary  movements  of 
the  prisoners.  Upon  these  there  was  no  re- 
straint whatsoever  within  the  large  room  as- 
signed to  them,  in  which  they  associated  with 
each  other  with  as  much  freedom  as  if  the  kam- 
era  were  simply  a  house  of  detention. 

From  all  I  could  see,  the  main  idea  of 
the  authorities  was  to  hold  these  convicts  se- 
curely, yet  at  the  least  cost  and  trouble.  The 
notion  of  mere  punishment  did  not  seem  to 
enter  into  the  calculations.  It  was  here  that 
were  kept  the  men  who  had  committed  addi- 
tional murders  or  other  crimes  since  their  arri- 
val in  Sakhalin.  And  this  was  the  room  from 
which  were  brought  the  prisoners  who  were 
at  different  times  flogged  in  my  presence. 

On  the  right  of  this  quadrangle  is  an  oblong 
north-east  quadrangle.  In  this,  on  the  highest 
point  within  the  prison  walls,  is  situated  the 
watch-tower,  which  overlooks  not  only  all  the 
yards  or  quadrangles,  but  the  whole  town  and 
the  country  immediately  surrounding.  This 
north-east  quadrangle  is  flanked  by  a  very  long 
line  of  prisoners'  lodgings,  the  windows  of  which 
look  out  upon  the  mountain  scenery  beyond. 

121 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Within  these  buildings  are  situated  the  bake- 
houses for  the  prison  and  settlement,  and  the 
cook-houses  and  kitchen  premises  of  the  prison. 

Here,  in  these  rude  and  extensive  kitchens, 
I  would  watch  the  bread-making  and  baking, 
and  in  another  part  beyond  the  bakery  see  the 
final  distribution  of  it  to  convicts  and  officials. 
As  I  tasted  different  lots  and  batches,  I  satisfied 
myself  that  as  regards  quality  there  was  no  dis- 
crimination in  the  respective  issues,  the  same 
brown  bread  being  distributed  to  officers  and 
convicts  alike.  I  did  the  same  respecting  other 
parts  of  the  daily  rations,  and  satisfied  myself 
that  the  samples  of  soup  tasted  by  the  Governor 
and  myself  daily  at  his  house  were  bona  fide 
specimens  of  the  soup  actually  given  on  the 
same  day  to  the  convicts.  The  fish  soup,  in  par- 
ticular, I  found  to  be  very  palatable  and  seem- 
ingly nutritious.  It  was  fairly  thick,  and  con- 
tained a  good  proportion  of  vegetables,  includ- 
ing potatoes  and  cabbage,  and  to  this  I  partly 
attributed  my  inability  to  discover  among  the 
prisoners  actual  cases  of  scurvy,  so  prevalent  in 
Siberian  prisons. 

The  different  kameras  or  rooms  were  all 
pretty  much  alike — long,  lofty  sheds  with  the 
same  sloping  wooden  bench  running  down  one 
side,  and  in  some  cases,  but  not  in  all,  a  rough 
table  with  equally  rough  benches  or  stools,  as 

122 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

the  only  furniture.  During  the  day,  each  pris- 
oner's blanket  was  in  a  roll  at  the  head  of  his 
accustomed  sleeping-place  on  the  bench,  as  is 
so  often  seen  in  the  lodgings  for  detained  pris- 
oners, for  vagrants,  and  in  "  doss  "  houses  in 
various  other  countries. 

I  think  that  any  foreign  visitor  would  de- 
scribe this  establishment,  so  far  as  the  buildings 
are  concerned,  as  barracks,  its  use  as  a  prison 
appearing  to  have  been  a  subsequent  adapta- 
tion. 

I  made  frequent  visits  to  the  barracks  of  the 
military  garrison  within  gunshot  of  the  prison, 
and  so  am  familiar  with  every  detail  of  the  ac- 
commodation there  provided  for  the  soldiers  of 
the  imperial  army.  In  both  the  barracks  and 
the  prison  the  air  space  is  beyond  all  regulation 
requirements.  In  both,  the  wooden  flooring 
and  the  sleeping  bench  arrangements  are  the 
same.  There  are  only  two  points  of  difference: 
In  the  barracks  the  windows  are  at  the  usual 
height  above  the  floor,  and  are  not  barred, 
hence  the  barrack-room  has  a  more  cheerful  ap- 
pearance, even  where  the  windows  are  only  in 
the  same  proportion;  and  there  is  a  larger  sup- 
ply of  tables,  benches,  and  stools,  but  the  style 
of  these  is  the  same  in  both  cases. 

There  is,  then,  substantially  but  little  differ- 
ence between  the  barrack-room  of  the  soldier 
123 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  the  kamera  of  the  convict  in  Korsakoffsk 
prison. 

The  impression  received  on  entering  the  sol- 
diers' quarters  is,  however,  quite  another  mat- 
ter. As  each  soldier  has  in  addition  to  his  kit 
a  variety  of  little  belongings  which  he  is  allowed 
to  arrange  more  or  less  according  to  his  taste, 
the  visitor  immediately  feels  that  the  barrack- 
room  is  occupied  by  free  individuals,  the  prison 
kamera  by  residents  under  restraint. 

The  only  part  of  the  prison  which  exhibits 
the  slightest  pretension  to  architecture  is  the 
gate-way  at  the  main  entrance.  Its  fagade  is 
quite  high  and  solid-looking,  with  fairly  well- 
carved  panels  overhead,  the  effect  of  which  is 
mildly  imposing.  The  gates  themselves  are 
massive  wood,  quite  plain,  and  are  rarely 
opened,  a  smaller  door  within  the  same  porch- 
way  being  all  that  is  used  for  ordinary  ingress 
and  egress. 

This  entrance  is  under  a  very  deep  flat- 
roofed  archway  within  which  are  two  or  more 
offices.  Two  sentinels  always  stand  at  the  front 
of  the  door,  one  of  whom  strokes  down  and  ex- 
amines every  convict  whenever  he  goes  in  or 
out,  to  ascertain  if  he  has  any  forbidden  article 
concealed  about  his  person. 

On  the  appearance  of  an  officer  at  the  gate, 
"  Smirno  "  is  yelled  out,  the  sentinels  on  duty 
124 


The   Korsakoffsk   Prison 

salute,  and  the  corporal  of  the  guard  passes  him 
in  or  out.  When  the  Governor  enters  the  whole 
guard  turns  out,  though,  if  the  visit  be  a  repeti- 
tion during  the  same  day,  he  generally  orders 
them  not  to  do  so. 

The  turnkey  is  not  an  inevitable  companion 
in  moving  about  this  prison.  If  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  any  particular  locked  door  opened, 
the  man  with  the  key  would  be  hunted  up; 
but  these  occasions  were  few,  as  most  of  the 
doors  in  all  directions,  except  in  the  north- 
ernmost building,  would  need  but  a  push  or 
the  raising  of  the  latch  during  the  daytime  to 
open  them. 

As  most  of  the  kameras  or  lodging-rooms 
were  occupied  at  night  by  thirty  or  forty  prison- 
ers, it  seemed  to  me  that  plots  and  combinations 
might  be  made  in  considerable  force,  especially 
as  two  thirds  of  the  prisoners  wore  no  chains  at 
all.  From  the  unprison-like  looseness  and  shift- 
lessness  prevalent  throughout  the  establishment, 
I  gathered  that  it  is  sufficiently  understood  by 
the  prisoners  that  it  is  the  island  itself  which  is 
their  real  prison,  the  jail  structure  being  re- 
garded rather  as  lodgings,  a  successful  escape 
from  which  would  be  but  the  beginning  of  in- 
evitable and  additional  suffering  beyond  possible 
calculation. 

Under  these  circumstances  in  Sakhalin,  the 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

state  does  not  go  to  the  expense  of  building 
imposing  stone  castles  with  gloomy  corridors 
and  cave-like  cells.  It  does  not  employ  troops 
of  turnkeys  and  wardens  with  their  melancholy 
clank  of  keys  to  watch  each  individual  prisoner 
immured  in  his  sepulchral  and  solitary  cell,  but 
adopts  an  expedient  vastly  cheaper  for  the 
state — the  use  of  manacles  of  varying  weight 
and  strength  adapted  to  what  may  be  deemed 
expedient  in  each  particular  case.  In  none  of 
the  kameras  did  I  discover  the  unpleasant  odour 
I  had  expected.  What  might  be  found  in 
winter,  when  the  stoves  were  lighted  and  the 
doors  closed,  I  am  unable  to  say,  but  I  can  hard- 
ly imagine  the  prisoners  as  being  satisfied  unless 
the  atmosphere  were  rendered  unbreathable  for 
an  ordinary  European. 

Should  this  general  description  of  the  prison 
building  at  Korsakofifsk  excite  any  feeling  of 
disappointment  because  it  includes  too  litttle 
that  is  horrible,  the  facts  alone  can  be  held  re- 
sponsible. It  may  be  observed  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  have  said  nothing  whatever  in  its 
praise.  I  am  writing  at  the  present  moment  just 
fresh  from  a  visit  to  one  of  the  best  of  her  late 
British  Majesty's  model  prisons  in  England,  in 
which  the  floors  and  utensils,  from  the  con- 
demned cells  to  the  kitchen,  are  in  a  state  of 
cleanliness  and  polish  which  is  scarcely  sur- 
126 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

passed  in  any  one  of  the  palaces  in  which  the 
Queen  herself  resided. 

To  judge  the  prison  of  Korsakoffsk  by  such 
a  standard,  I  need  not  say,  would  be  simply  ab- 
surd, and  yet  anybody  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  character  and  habits  of  the  classes  from 
which  the  greater  number  of  the  Korsakoffsk 
convicts  are  derived,  would  not  for  a  moment 
doubt  that  if  to  such  a  convict  could  be  offered 
a  change  to  the  solitary  confinement  and  oakum- 
picking  within  one  of  the  cells  in  this  silent 
mausoleum,  he  would  regard  the  proposition 
with  the  utmost  horror  and  most  emphatically 
reject  the  offer. 

It  would  seem  to  be  particularly  prophetic  of 
the  Asiatic,  and  of  the  low-class  Russian,  that 
man  is  not  made  "  to  live  alone."  The  ordinary 
moujik,  with  his  huge  greasy  boots  and  oily 
sheepskin  overcoat,  its  woolly  side  inward,  in 
which  he  works  by  day  and  sleeps  and  stews  by 
night  on  the  top  of  the  domestic  oven,  right 
through  the  long  winter,  becomes  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  world  of  parasites,  which,  according 
to  his  notion,  helps  to  keep  him  warm  and  com- 
fortable. One  of  the  punishments  he  most  re- 
sents on  being  sent  to  Sakhalin  is  the  strong 
weekly  compulsory  steam-bath. 

In  Korsakoffsk  there  are  three  bath-houses: 
one  for  the  officials,  one  for  the  soldiers,  and  one 
127 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

for  the  convicts.  They  are  all  on  the  same 
plan,  and  the  process  is  practically  the  same  in 
each.  When  the  bather  enters  the  general  bath- 
room, the  attendant  dips  buckets  of  not  actu- 
ally boiling  water  from  a  tank,  and  continues  to 
dash  this  at  him  as  long  as  he  thinks  he  can 
stand  it.  Then  he  flagellates  the  bather  all  over 
with  rods  made,  not  of  birch,  but  of  prickly  pine 
branches,  till  he  is  as  red  as  a  lobster. 

He  next  spreads  on  a  part  of  the  floor, 
which  is  the  brick  roof  of  a  furnace,  a  thick  car- 
pet of  fresh  pine  leaves  and  directs  the  bather 
to  stand  on  it.  Upon  this  he  dashes  bucket 
after  bucket  of  the  same  hot  water  until  the 
scalding  steam  arising  from  it  becomes  so  dense 
and  suffocating  that  the  bather  is  literally  com- 
pletely lost  in  the  clouds.  After  the  exposure 
to  the  steam  has  been  enough  to  kill  any  living 
creature  smaller  than  the  bather  himself,  he  is 
taken  aside,  and  thoroughly  scrubbed  with  soap- 
suds and  a  pine  branch  brush.  Again  he  is 
bathed,  scrubbed,  and  steamed  as  before,  the  at- 
tendant telling  him  to  keep  gently  turning. 
Two  or  three  buckets  of  water  not  frozen  quite 
solid  give  the  coup  de  grace.  They  are  spitefully 
dashed  upon  the  victim  with  such  force  that  it 
is  impossible  for  him  to  say  whether  the  water 
is  very  cold  or  very  hot.  This  sort  of  a  bath  is 
a  great  luxury — when  it  is  over.  Such  is  the 
128 


The  Korsakoffsk  Prison 

tonic  and  stimulating  effect  of  it,  I  was  told, 
that  after  it,  with  the  temperature  outside 
twenty  or  thirty  degrees  below  zero,  bathers 
will  sometimes  run  home  through  snow-drifts 
with  most  of  their  clothing  under  their  arms, 
and  feel  all  the  better  for  it. 

For  mutual  convenience,  every  official  has 
his  particular  hour  once  a  week,  when  he  has  un- 
disturbed possession.  Though  this  process  is 
a  very  thorough  one,  it  is  none  too  much  so 
perhaps;  for,  like  confession  and  absolution,  it 
has  to  cover  a  multitude  of  sins. 

The  therapeutical  effect  of  these  baths  de- 
pends on  the  individual.  To  those  who  need 
them  and  are  strong  enough  to  bear  them,  they 
may  be  very  useful. 

I  know  of  one  case  in  which  a  man  in  New 
York  took  a  Russian  bath  as  it  is  practised  there, 
who,  having  a  weak  heart,  was  killed  by  it  on 
the  spot.  I  also  know  of  three  other  persons 
in  whose  case  such  a  bath  was  followed  by  per- 
manent disability.  In  spite  of  this  knowledge, 
however,  like  an  idiot,  I  took  my  turn  and  went 
through  the  whole  process,  exactly  as  did  the 
Governor.  I  cannot  say  that  I  felt  very  much 
the  worse  for  it  in  any  particular,  but,  while  I 
told  my  host  that  I  had  enjoyed  it  "  very  much, 
thank  you,"  I  never  went  again. 


129 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE   FOOD    OF   THE   EXILES 

The  average  daily  ration  consisted  of  three 
pounds  of  bread  and  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of 
meat,  or  a  pound  of  fish,  with  about  a  pint  of 
soup. 

The  men  who  were  at  hard  labour  received 
an  additional  pound  of  bread.  On  the  fast  days, 
over  a  hundred  of  which  were  religiously  ob- 
served by  the  prison  regulations,  no  meat  was 
supplied.    In  this  case  fish  was  substituted  for  it. 

The  soup  had  for  its  basis  sometimes  meat, 
sometimes  fish,  and  always  contained  vege- 
tables. These  were  either  potatoes  or  cabbage, 
and  sometimes  both. 

Each  prisoner  could  have  his  ration  separate- 
ly, if  he  wished  it,  but,  generally  speaking,  all 
the  inmates  of  a  single  kamera  or  room  would 
be  divided  into  squads,  each  squad  having  its 
Starosta  or  chief,  of  its  own  selection,  who  re- 
ceived all  the  rations  due  to  his  mess.  By  this 
arrangement,  each  person  could  get  perhaps 
more  of  that  part  of  the  ration  which  he  hap- 
130 


The  Food  of  the  Exiles 

pened  to  like  best;  better  dishes  could  be  made 
by  the  Starosta  with  the  materials,  and  certain 
parts  which  were  in  excess,  especially  bread, 
could  be  exchanged  for  something  more  to  their 
general  liking.  The  quantity  of  bread  given  to 
prisoners  is  greater  than  that  supplied  in  Eng- 
lish prisons,  and  is  the  same  as  that  given  to  the 
Russian  soldiery. 

The  bread  is  made  of  rye,  the  same  as  is  used 
all  through  Germany  as  well  as  Russia.  This 
black  bread,  as  it  is  called,  is  supposed  to  have 
more  staying  power  than  wheaten  white  bread, 
and,  though  repulsive  in  some  eyes,  is  preferred 
by  those  accustomed  to  it,  not  only  among  the 
peasantry,  but  among  many  persons  of  all 
classes  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  con- 
tinent. On  my  visits  to  the  prison  bakery,  I 
have  seen  this  bread  made,  baked,  and  delivered, 
and  in  its  distribution  observed  that  the  convict 
Starostas  and  the  famiHes  of  the  officials  were 
served  from  the  same  batch  without  discrimina- 
tion. This  bread  is  used  by  the  official  families 
themselves  more  largely  than  white  bread, 
though  the  latter  is  usually  on  their  tables.  The 
Governor  always  preferred  the  black  bread,  and 
used  to  laugh  at  my  folly  in  not  sharing  his 
taste. 

I  observed  that  the  various  gangs  of  convicts 
working  within,  say,  a  mile  or  so  of  the  prison 
131 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

were  allowed  to  come  to  the  building  for  dinner, 
so  as  to  get  their  soup,  meat,  or  fish,  as  the  case 
might  be,  in  addition  to  the  bread,  which  other- 
wise would  have  been  their  only  portion. 

Convicts  continuing  within  the  prison  after 
their  two  years  of  good-conduct  service,  who 
had  money,  whether  sent  to  them,  or  earned  by 
them  in  one  of  the  prison  workshops,  were  al- 
lowed to  supplement  their  prison  rations  with 
whatever  other  articles  they  could  purchase 
from  the  commissariat. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  those  em- 
ployed in  the  various  workshops  within  the 
prison,  but  who  lived  in  their  own  cottages, 
had  in  addition  the  products  of  their  own  gar- 
dens. 

To  facilitate  a  variety  in  their  menu,  there 
was  a  shop  in  the  town  which  was  open  twice  a 
week.  It  corresponded  to  a  sutler's  in  the 
army,  and  offered  as  great  a  variety  of  goods  as 
the  store  of  an  American  western  village.  It 
also  supplied  about  the  same  indescribable  com- 
bination of  odours,  in  which  kerosene,  cheese, 
onions,  pepper,  and  peppermint  lozenges  were 
among  the  articles  which  more  conspicuously 
announced  themselves.  In  gloomy  weather, 
and  when  feeling  as  if  I  were  an  exile  myself,  I 
used  to  drop  in  at  the  store  for  a  change.  Be- 
sides the  composite  odour  and  its  western  asso- 
132 


The  Food  of  the  Exiles 

ciations,  there  were  the  famihar  placards  and  ad- 
vertisements of  Waterbury  clocks,  Pears'  soap, 
and  Palmer's  biscuits.  These  advertisement 
cards  were  used  as  pictorial  works  of  art  with 
which  to  astonish  the  wondering  eyes  of  the 
poor  exiles,  who  were  utterly  incapable  of  com- 
prehending them,  but  to  me  they  suggested 
thoughts  of  home  and  friends  and  country, 
which  by  so  many  possibilities  I  might  perhaps 
never  see  again. 

I  inquired  if  through  rich  friends  at  home, 
or  exceptional  earnings  and  savings  in  Sakhalin, 
some  of  the  free  convicts  used  the  store  facili- 
ties so  as  to  live  in  a  luxurious  and  extravagant 
manner.  My  informant  told  me  that,  though 
there  were  some  exiles  in  each  of  the  categories 
whose  friends  were  rich  and  willing  to  be  gener- 
ous, the  regulations  are  so  distinct  and  compre- 
hensive that  the  maximum  amount  which  can 
come  into  the  hands  of  an  exile  is  small,  and  so 
definitely  limited,  that  there  is  very  little  possi- 
bility of  such  occurrences.  Whatever  the 
amount  of  money  friends  may  send  for  a  pris- 
oner, the  whole  of  it  is  placed  to  his  account 
with  the  Administration.  While  in  prison  he  is 
not  allowed  to  draw  more  than  two  roubles  a 
month;  afterward  he  may  receive  more,  accord- 
ing to  the  category  to  which  by  good  conduct 
he  is  promoted.  The  same  is  the  case  with  his 
133 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

earnings,  and  in  all  instances  must  he  report  in 
detail  the  items  for  which  the  money  is  expend- 
ed. In  this  way,  recklessness  in  expenditure  is 
not  a  temptation.  Moreover,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, I  found  the  prices  of  various  articles  so 
high  as  to  be  almost  beyond  the  range  of  that 
class  of  customers,  except  in  very  small  quan- 
tities. 

The  Government  allowance  for  prisoners 
and  for  prison  subsistence  is  made  upon  a  basis 
of  so  much  per  head.  It  may  be  ten,  fifteen,  or 
twenty  kopeks.  This  varies  necessarily  accord- 
ing to  time  and  place.  At  the  time  I  was  in 
KorsakofTsk  it  was  fifteen  kopeks.  Forced  col- 
onists, or  peasant  colonists,  had  the  option  of 
taking  this  wholly  in  money,  or  partly  in  money 
and  partly  in  provisions,  or  of  taking  the  full 
ration  in  kind.  In  the  agricultural  villages  as  in 
the  prison,  the  peasant  convicts  club  together, 
and,  as  there  are  many  things  they  grow  them- 
selves, they  arrange  to  draw  only  one  or  two 
articles  in  kind,  and  the  rest  in  money. 

It  was  my  impression  that,  as  regards  quan- 
tity, the  rations  of  food  were  ample,  especially 
of  bread,  but  that  as  regards  variety  there  was 
something  to  be  desired.  Yet,  the  scurvy, 
which  is  so  frequently  found  in  consequence  of 
this  defect  in  many  parts  of  Siberia,  I  looked 
for  in  vain  in  Sakhalin  as  a  distinct  disease, 
134 


The  Food  of  the  Exiles 

though  a  scorbutic  condition  was  frequently 
manifest. 

The  alleviation  of  the  lot  of  prisoners  by  out- 
side contributions,  such  as  occurs  to  a  consider- 
able extent  in  the  larger  towns  of  Siberia  by  the 
united  efforts  of  philanthropic  committees,  can- 
not take  place  in  Sakhalin.  The  freedom  with 
which  prisoners  are  allowed  to  receive  supplies 
of  food,  not  only  occasionally,  but  daily  from 
friends  outside,  in  the  larger  towns  in  Siberia 
proper,  had  surprised  me;  but  in  Korsakoff sk 
the  only  voluntary  aid  of  which  I  am  aware 
was  that  given  to   children   through   Madame 

S ,  of  which  I  have  spoken.     In  addition  to 

the  school  she  maintained  for  them,  she  helped 
them  in  various  other  ways,  as  far  as  the  funds 
she  obtained  would  allow. 

The  need  of  this  will  be  apparent  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  Government  allow- 
ance for  children  is  only  at  the  rate  of  about 
six  kopeks  a  day,  while  for  their  education 
and  training  the  state  makes  no  provision  what- 
ever. 

As  to  the  manner  of  eating  in  the  prison, 
the  prisoners  are  not  supplied  with  knives  or 
forks,  the  only  utensils  allowed  them  being 
wooden  bowls  and  wooden  spoons.  While  hav- 
ing his  private  bowl,  it  is  customary  for  each 
prisoner  to  dip  his  bread  into  the  big  common 
135 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

bowl  of  the  mess  around  which  all  its  members 
sit,  after  the  manner  of  the  peasantry. 

The  free  convicts  and  peasant  convicts  live 
as  well  as  the  peasant  class  in  any  part  of  Russia, 
and  with  more  uniformity  than  they  do  the  year 
round.  They  are  always  protected  against  the 
possibility  of  famines  by  the  regularity  of  the 
Government  supplies  of  fixed  rations,  which  are 
distributed  once  a  week.  On  my  visit  to  their 
cottages  I  found  that  most  of  the  families  had 
stores  in  reserve,  not  only  of  such  kinds  as  the 
Government  supplies,  but  of  vegetables,  and  es- 
pecially of  potatoes,  cucumbers,  onions,  and 
such  other  things  as  they  grow  in  their  own 
gardens. 

The  length  of  the  winter  makes  provident 
habits  in  these  particulars  very  important  for 
their  comfort.  As  there  are  no  taverns,  the  con- 
victs are  wholly  prohibited  from  indulgence 
in  drink.  Nowhere  else,  either  in  the  United 
States  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  per- 
haps, is  the  principle  of  prohibition  in  such 
practical  and  effective  operation  as  among  the 
exiles  on  the  island  of  Sakhalin. 

The  temptations  to  drink  are  rigidly  con- 
fined to  the  officials,  the  only  class  on  the  island 
who  are  without  restrictions  in  this  particular. 

In  most  of  the  villages  there  seemed  to  be  a 
fair  supply  of  milk,  butter,  cheese,  and  eggs;  but, 
136 


The  Food  of  the  Exiles 

for  natural  reasons,  their  distribution  seemed 
to  be  as  unequal  as  it  would  be  in  a  free  country. 

Tobacco  is  not  prohibited  even  in  the  prison, 
but  I  have  never  seen  a  prisoner  smoke  in  the 
presence  of  an  official,  unless  under  very  excep- 
tional circumstances,  the  liberty  being  taken 
only  by  women.  Though  tobacco  is  supplied 
as  part  of  the  ration,  smoking  is  allowed  on  cer- 
tain days  only.  This  is  true  also  respecting 
kvass,  or  small  beer. 

Almost  any  evening,  however,  in  passing  the 
prison  windows  opening  on  the  streets  or  fields, 
the  tobacco  smoke,  as  well  as  the  unsubdued 
tones  of  the  prisoners,  would  be  strong  enough 
to  compel  my  attention. 


137 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE   OCCUPATIONS    OF   EXILES 

In  my  description  of  the  Korsakoffsk  pris- 
on I  have  but  incidentally  referred  to  the  trades 
carried  on  within  it.  In  the  assignment  to 
different  occupations  there  is  a  system  of  legal 
limitations,  which  gives  a  certain  degree  of  pro- 
tection against  the  personal  caprice  of  officials, 
though  in  the  application  of  all  rates  these  des- 
pots are  allowed  great  latitude. 

According  to  this  system,  all  prisoners  who 
are  nobles,  and  all  prisoners  who  are  classed  as 
merely  political  offenders,  are  exempt  from  hard 
labour  in  the  ordinary  course. 

During  the  first  year  after  their  arrival,  cer- 
tain of  the  hard-labour  convicts  are  kept  all  the 
time  strictly  within  the  prison  boundaries.  Dur- 
ing the  second  year,  if  their  conduct  has  fur- 
nished no  cause  for  objection,  they  are  sent  to 
work  outside  the  prison,  but  only  to  do  what  is 
considered  the  worst  of  the  hard  labour  in  Kor- 
sakoffsk. 

Good  behaviour  during  two  years  of  resi- 

138 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

dence  in  the  jail  makes  prisoners  eligible  for 
residence  outside  its  walls,  the  bestowal  of  the 
privilege  being  left  entirely  to  the  judgment  of 
the  officials,  who,  in  granting  it,  discriminate  in 
favour  of  those  married  prisoners  whose  wives 
at  home  have  applied  for  permission  to  join 
them. 

Such  convicts,  if  they  are  skilful  in  any  one 
of  the  trades  conducted  within  the  prison,  may 
continue  to  work  in  their  accustomed  shop 
there,  though  living  in  a  neighbouring  cottage. 
They  must,  however,  be  found  at  home  at  cer- 
tain hours  in  the  evening,  and  strictly  adhere  to 
specified  regulations  in  every  particular. 

If  their  work  justifies  it,  premiums  are 
awarded  them,  part  of  which  may  be  paid  them 
monthly,  the  other  part  being  placed  to  their 
credit  on  official  books,  for  use  when,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  officials,  it  may  be  employed 
to  the  best  advantage  of  the  convict  and  the 
colony. 

According  to  the  system  of  promotion,  the 
convict  may  subsequently  have  allotted  to  him 
a  house  and  land  in  one  of  the  agricultural  vil- 
lages. At  such  a  time  he  may  receive  not  only 
the  money  which  has  accumulated  to  his  credit, 
but  be  furnished  also  with  such  cattle,  imple- 
ments, or  additional  money  advances  as  may  be 
deemed  necessary  or  expedient  for  the  cultiva- 
139 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tion  and  improvement  of  his  farm.  Besides 
such  seeds  as  he  may  require  at  the  start,  for 
such  a  period  as  they  may  be  required,  the 
necessaries  of  Hfe,  such  as  food  and  clothing, 
are  assured  to  him  as  regularly  as  if  he  were  in 
the  prison,  with  such  special  privileges  in  the 
matter  of  commutations  of  parts  of  the  regula- 
tion allowances  as  the  varying  and  improved 
conditions  of  his  life  may  render  expedient. 

It  may  appear  from  what  I  have  said  that,  as 
the  local  Administration  is  the  exile's  banker 
not  only  while  he  is  a  prisoner,  but  for  some 
time  after  he  is  a  free  convict,  his  condition 
must  have  many  limitations,  however  great  his 
success,  and  that  the  knowledge  of  this  fact 
must  be  unfavourable  to  the  ambition  of  the 
agricultural  villager. 

At  Korsakoffsk  there  is  a  weekly  market- 
day,  and  from  what  I  saw  on  these  occasions 
more  than  from  what  was  told  me  on  this  point, 
I  judge  that  a  good  many  of  these  agriculturists 
had  released  themselves  entirely  from  this  form 
of  bondage,  and  were  practically  as  free  in  their 
pursuits  within  the  locality  assigned  to  them  as 
free  peasants  could  be  in  any  part  of  Russia. 

Every  week  there  would  be  drawn  up  in  the 

market-place,   on   either  side  of  the  street,   as 

many  as  thirty  or  forty  double  teams,  and  quite 

a  brisk  trade  seemed  to  be  kept  up  between 

140 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

their  owners,  much  as  would  occur  in  an  open 
market-place  anywhere.  Horses  and  cattle  were 
being  bought  and  sold  by  the  men,  and  all  sorts 
of  garden  and  dairy  produce  by  the  women. 
Some  of  these  people  had  the  reputation  of 
being  what  there  is  called  rich.  In  all  their  busi- 
ness transactions  there  was  certainly  nothing  to 
indicate  any  difference  between  these  people 
and  traders  thousands  of  miles  from  a  penal 
colony. 

Among  the  free  convicts  in  Sakhalin,  as 
among  groups  of  people  everywhere  who  start  on 
even  terms,  the  line  of  progress  soon  becomes 
broken;  some  lag  behind  and  others  go  ahead, 
some  seem  made  to  be  poor  and  others  to  be 
rich.  Some  of  these  people  whose  houses  I 
visited  seemed  to  be  barely  subsisting.  Others 
had  several  horses  and  a  good  stock  of  cattle, 
and  seemed  thoroughly  well  off  in  every  par- 
ticular. 

In  my  visits  to  the  cottagers  in  Korsakoffsk,  I 
found  that  some  of  them  who  worked  in  the  pris- 
on took  in  private  work  also  at  their  own  homes. 
With  this  and  their  gardens  their  spare  hours 
were  well  occupied. 

Partly  for  my  own  convenience,  and  partly 

for  the  opportunity  of  getting  better  acquainted 

with  this  class,  and  giving  some  of  them  a  slight 

pecuniary  lift,  I  hunted  up  a  tailor,  a  shoemaker, 

141 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  a  laundress,  to  each  of  whom  I  gave  some 
Httle  employment. 

I  had  an  idea  that  they  would  jump  at  the 
chance  of  earning  a  little  silver  money,  that  they 
would  immediately  set  about  the  work  I  gave 
them  and  be  grateful  for  the  opportunity. 
Truth  to  say,  I  was  never  more  disappointed. 
I  wanted  a  pair  of  shoes  heeled,  and  asked  the 
shoemaker  to  let  me  have  them  on  the  follow- 
ing evening.  After  careful  reflection  he  found 
that,  beginning  with  to-morrow,  there  would  be 
two  Saints'  days  in  succession,  and  he  couldn't 
think  of  commencing  a  new  job  on  a  Saint's 
day.  After  I  had  waited  till  the  fourth  day,  the 
shoes  were  delivered.  The  Governor  happened 
to  be  in  the  vestibule,  and,  on  taking  a  look  at 
them,  he  found  that  they  were  done  so  badly 
that  without  my  knowledge  he  made  the  man's 
wife  take  them  back  to  be  done  over  again.  In 
the  end  I  got  them  on  the  fifth  day,  still  so  badly 
done  as  to  be  only  just  wearable. 

I  had  intended  to  give  this  man  about  double 
what  I  would  have  paid  in  New  York,  but 
thought  that  I  would  pay  him  the  compliment 
of  asking  the  price.  He  promptly  spared  me 
my  generosity  by  asking  an  amount  which  was 
just  half  as  much,  and  suggested  that  I  might 
add  to  that  trifle  as  much  as  I  liked.  I  was  glad 
of  the  prolonged  opportunity  of  increasing  my 
142 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

acquaintance  with  him,  and  gave  him  four  times 
as  much  as  would  have  been  charged  either  in 
London  or  in  Paris.  To  my  disappointment, 
however,  he  did  not  betray  the  sHghtest  sign  of 
either  the  gratitude  or  the  pleasure  which  I  had 
fondly  anticipated. 

My  laundress  was  of  a  very  different  type. 
A  bright,  cheerful,  amiable  creature  of  about 
forty,  and  full  of  good-humour,  she  seemed  very 
much  delighted  and  flattered  by  my  visits. 
Hers  was  a  story-and-a-half  house  of  four 
rooms.  The  front  room  was  flanked  by  little 
well-kept  beds  of  flowers.  There  were  pretty 
boxes  of  flowers  also  in  each  window,  and  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  cottage  was  so  attractive 
on  the  outside  as  to  make  one  wish  to  see  the 
inside  of  it.  Nor  was  I  disappointed  on  enter- 
ing it.  Indeed,  I  really  think  that  in  all  Russia 
I  have  never  seen  another  cottage  of  its  size  so 
neat  and  clean. 

Then  there  was  a  touch  of  humanity  in  this 
cottage  not  often  seen  in  the  houses  about  Kor- 
sakofifsk.  Suspended  by  a  cord  from  the  free 
end  of  an  elastic  pole  was  a  little  wooden  box, 
which  was  gently  touched  as  I  entered,  and  set 
in  an  up-and-down  motion.  This  was  done  to 
keep  the  baby  within  it  from  being  awakened 
by  our  conversation. 

The  view  from  the  windows  was  as  beautiful 
143 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

as  could  be  found  from  any  site  in  the  settle- 
ment, for  the  cottage  was  built  near  the  prison, 
just  on  the  ridge  of  the  hill  crowning  the  settle- 
ment, and  so  commanded  a  clear  view  of  the  ad- 
joining valley,  and  across  the  beautiful  Aniva 
Bay. 

This  woman,  whose  husband  worked  in  the 
prison,  appeared  to  be  really  very  much  pleased 
that  I  had  some  work  for  her,  and  promised  to 
do  it  without  delay.  I  supposed  this  meant 
that  my  things  would  be  returned  to  me  the  fol- 
lowing evening.  Nothing  of  the  sort.  It  was 
not  till  six  days  afterward  that  she  was  able  to 
finish  them,  though  the  weather  was  good  and  I 
was  her  only  customer. 

As  the  laundress  did  not  bring  them  herself, 
but  sent  them  by  a   little   daughter,    I   asked 

Madame  S what  was  the  greatest  amount 

of  money  I  might  send  her.  "  Oh,  I  really  don't 
know,''  she  replied.  "  These  people  are  so  hard 
to  deal  with.  It  is  difficult,  as  you  have  seen, 
to  get  them  to  do  anything  at  all.  Of  time  they 
have  no  idea.  A  price  they  will  never  fix,  as 
they  think  that  they  will  thus  be  sure  of  getting 
more  than  they  could  venture  to  ask.  There  is 
one  thing,  however,  you  may  be  sure  of.  How- 
ever much  you  give  them,  they  will  not  be  sat- 
isfied. You  certainly  should  not  give  more 
than  three  roubles."  So  I  gave  four,  which, 
144 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

being  in  silver  coin,  was  equal  to  five  roubles 
in  paper.  For  the  same  Work,  much  better 
done,  I  should  not  have  been  charged  more 
than  a  quarter  of  that  sum  in  any  part  of  Eu- 
rope. Neither  by  word  nor  sign  did  the 
woman  show  any  satisfaction  whatever  at  my 
generosity.  I  have  given  the  exact  words  of 
my  hostess,  not  only  because  they  were  in  ac- 
cord with  my  own  subsequent  experience,  but 
because  she  was  one  of  the  most  kind  and  gen- 
erous persons  living,  and  always  had  a  tender 
sympathy  with  the  unfortunates  by  whom  she 
was  surrounded.  I  must  confess  that  this  expe- 
rience revealed  to  me  an  obverse  side  of  the  life 
here  regarding  the  character  of  exiles  and  the 
difficulties  of  the  officials  in  dealing  with  them, 
which  both  surprised  and  disappointed  me.  In- 
deed, had  such  facts  not  come  to  my  personal 
knowledge,  but  been  simply  told  me  by  an  offi- 
cial, I  should  have  credited  the  statements  to 
official  prejudice. 

I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  said  that  this  kind 
of  apathy  in  convicts  with  which  the  officials 
have  to  deal  in  their  efforts  to  improve  the  ma- 
terial condition  of  these  people,  and  through 
them  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country, 
is  but  a  natural  result  of  the  dead-weight  im- 
posed upon  them  by  the  severity  of  the  regu- 
lations. 

145 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Every  exile  is  aware  that  the  officials  dare 
not  let  him  starve,  that  under  all  circumstances 
they  are  responsible  for  his  maintenance;  hence 
I  fear  that  it  is  rather  the  rule  than  the  excep- 
tion for  the  convict  in  Sakhalin,  even  when  free, 
to  do  only  as  much  work  as  is  necessary  to  se- 
cure to  him  the  continuance  of  the  privileges 
he  already  possesses.  This  is  not  a  distinctly 
Russian  trait.  It  is  common  to  human  nature 
the  world  over  in  certain  stages  of  civilization. 
It  seems  to  be  cattle-nature  to  keep  one  eye  on 
the  master,  the  other  on  the  crib. 

A  certain  number  of  exiles,  manifestly  of  the 
better  class,  seemed  to  have  no  fixed  occupation 
of  any  sort,  but  were  allowed  to  pass  their  time 
in  their  own  way. 

Small  fishing  companies  or  squads  are  sta- 
tioned at  different  points  along  the  coast,  each  of 
them  usually  including  from  six  to  ten  free  con- 
victs, carefully  selected,  I  should  judge,  accom- 
panied by  one  or  two  soldiers  as  guards.  They 
are  distributed  at  the  more  favourable  points, 
where  they  trawl  chiefly  for  salmon  trout,  which 
are  salted  down  in  sand-pits  as  soon  as  caught, 
and  collected  at  intervals  in  barges,  which  are 
towed  along  the  coast  and  brought  to  Korsa- 
kofTsk. 

It  was  fortunate  for  me  that,  after  his  long 
absence  from  the  island,  the  Governor  felt  it 
146 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

necessary  that  his  tour  of  inspection  should  in- 
clude all  the  southern  part  of  Sakhalin,  and  that 
he  chose  to  make  me  his  inseparable  companion 
on  all  these  as  well  as  on  other  occasions. 

In  this  way  I  visited  the  fine  parks,  Tichu- 
jenjevsk,  Najbutschi,  Baranofsk,  and  Manni 
Muravjesk,  with  the  twenty-eight  agricultural 
villages,  containing  in  all  about  seven  hundred 
houses. 

On  these  trips  we  carried  with  us  nearly 
everything  we  were  likely  to  need  for  eating, 
drinking,  and  sleeping,  and  at  most  of  the  vil- 
lages encamped  in  the  post-house.  The  only 
place  in  which  we  received  what  might  be  called 
entertainment,  was  at  one  of  the  larger  villages, 
where  resided  a  deputy  chief  of  police.  Even 
here,  however,  the  best  lodging  they  could  give 
us  was  a  hayloft  over  the  stable. 

After  the  Governor  had  received  the  reports 
at  the  respective  places,  anybody  was  at  liberty 
to  come  to  consult  him  on  any  matter  whatever, 
and  thus  I  had  a  remarkably  good  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  colonists  of  every  grade  and  va- 
riety. 

As  the  Governor's  visits,  besides  being  in- 
spectorial, were  also  more  or  less  of  a  judicial 
nature,  I  was  surprised  at  the  very  few  griev- 
ances or  disputes  which  were  brought  before 
him.  Such  of  these  as  were  submitted  he  dealt 
147 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

with  rapidly  and,  it  seemed  to  me,  rather 
abruptly.  In  cases  in  which  a  visit  to  a  par- 
ticular locality  was  necessary  for  a  proper  deci- 
sion, however,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  make  it, 
reserving  his  verdict  till  afterward. 

Generally  speaking,  the  cottages  were  roomy 
and  well  arranged,  and,  as  all  of  them  were  com- 
paratively new  and  some  scarcely  finished,  each 
settlement  bore  the  appearance  of  being  what 
it  was — a  model  village  of  model  houses  accord- 
ing to  plans  most  carefully  prepared  by  the  chief 
of  the  Agricultural  Department. 

These  villages  were  decidedly  superior  to 
many  of  the  new  settlements  seen  on  the  west- 
ern prairies  of  America,  and  to  almost  any  of 
the  villages  in  other  parts  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire. 

Here,  as  everywhere  in  similar  latitudes, 
there  is  but  little  to  envy  in  the  life  of  the  settler, 
except  to  such  as  like  it.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
the  worst  feature  inseparable  from  the  life  of 
these  people  was  not  the  hardness  of  the  work, 
but  the  forced  idleness  to  which  they  are 
doomed  during  the  many  months  of  winter. 

More  interesting  to  me,  and  much  more  ro- 
mantic, were  our  inspection  visits  to  the  various 
little  fishing  stations  along  the  south  and  east 
coast  of  the  island,  already  referred  to  in  this 
chapter.  These  were  made  in  the  Governor's 
148 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

steam    launch,    which    was    always    well    provi- 
sioned. 

Our  first  trip  was  rather  a  long  one,  for, 
though  we  started  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  it  was  nearly  four  when,  arriving  at 
a  very  pretty  Httle  cove,  we  ran  the  launch  about 
two  hundred  yards  up  a  small  stream  and  alight- 
ed at  our  destination.  This  spot  was  a  veritable 
jungle  of  wild  flowers — an  almost  impenetrable 
cane-brake. 

Near  the  bank  of  the  stream  was  a  low  hut 
of  pine  branches.  To  the  west  there  was  not 
another  human  dwelling  between  it  and  Korsa- 
koffsk.  To  the  east  and  north,  not  one  for  over 
two  hundred  miles.  That  lonely  hut  was  occu- 
pied by  six  murderers  and  one  soldier,  who  with 
his  loaded  rifle  was  in  sole  charge  of  them.  The 
hut  was  divided  by  a  mud  wall  into  a  lesser  and 
greater  compartment.  I  found  that  the  lesser, 
into  which  our  traps  were  taken,  was  for  the 
Governor  and  myself;  the  other  and  larger  one 
for  the  convicts  and  the  soldier. 

The  Governor  ordered  them  to  catch  us 
some  fish,  and  in  lively  fashion  their  little  boats, 
which  had  been  hauled  up  for  the  evening,  were 
shoved  ofif.  The  net  was  cast  about  thirty  yards 
away,  and,  though  it  was  drawn  to  shore  again 
immediately,  it  took  three  barrels  to  contain 
the  haul  of  salmon-trout  that  was  made.  To 
149 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

say  that  the  water  was  solid  with  fish  would  be 
untrue;  but  it  swarmed  with  such  shoals  of 
them,  that  the  order  to  get  some  was  given  and 
obeyed  with  as  much  confidence  as  if  it  had  re- 
lated to  some  chicken  in  a  coop,  instead  of  to 
fishes  in  the  sea. 

By  the  time  the  fish  were  landed,  one  of  the 
men  had  built  up  a  fire  on  the  beach,  and  in 
very  short  order  half  a  dozen  skewered  fish  were 
grilling  for  our  dinner.  Large,  flat  sea-shells 
did  duty  as  plates,  and,  with  the  liquid  adjuncts 
we  had  brought  with  us,  our  al  fresco  repast  was 
as  enjoyable  as  it  was  primitive. 

In  the  hut  the  Governor  and  I  bunked  to- 
gether in  the  best  of  all  beds — a  magnificent 
heap  of  fragrant  pine  leaves.  Before  going  to 
sleep,  the  Governor  showed  so  very  much  care 
about  the  handy  position  of  his  revolver  and 
sabre,  that  I  had  a  strong  suspicion  that  he  was 
glad  of  my  company,  and  that  alone  he  would 
hardly  have  ventured  on  such  a  visit.  With  two 
murderers  I  think  I  should  have  felt  easy — es- 
pecially as  we  had  the  arms  and  they  had  none; 
but  when  six  such  fellows  were  restlessly  whis- 
pering to  each  other  in  another  corner  of  the 
same  hut  during  half  the  night,  as  in  this  case 
they  did,  I  think  I  may  as  well  confess  that  my 
slumbers  were  very  fitful.  The  Governor  fared 
but  little  better.  Of  this  I  am  quite  sure. 
150 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

I  lost  no  time  after  daybreak  in  exploring 
the  surroundings.  This  inlet  was  the  most 
warm  and  luxuriant  little  nook  I  had  found  on 
the  island.  The  dense  thicket  of  grapes,  flow- 
ers, and  bamboo  was  six  or  seven  feet  high. 
At  a  little  distance  along  the  bank  of  the  stream, 
I  met  with  one  of  the  most  beautiful  surprises 
the  island  had  afforded  me.  Perched  on  a  twig 
overhanging  the  stream,  and  only  a  few  yards 
beyond  me,  sat  an  exquisitely  bright  kingfisher, 
its  gorgeous  plumage  gleaming  and  scintillating 
in  the  morning  sun. 

Whether  I  ought  to  have  been  so  much  as- 
tonished as  I  was,  at  seeing  this  phenomenon 
in  such  a  latitude,  I  must  leave  to  the  naturalists 
to  whom  the  ways  of  this  bird  are  more  familiar. 

The  duty  of  the  fishing  stations  is  to  supply 
salted  fish,  first  of  all  in  quantity  sufficient  for 
a  pack  of  about  three  or  four  hundred  dogs, 
which  live  upon  it  principally  during  the  sum- 
mer, and  exclusively  during  the  long  winter. 
As  the  dog  sleighs  are  the  only  postal  vehicles 
practicable  during  these  long  months,  the  dogs 
are  of  great  importance  on  the  island,  and  the 
bulk  of  food  required  for  them  in  a  single  year 
is  enormous. 

Then  fish,  especially  fish  soup,  is  a  part  of 
the  standard  prison  diet,  as  we  have  seen. 

To  the  persons  who  are  accustomed  to  as- 
151 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

sume  that  under  the  Siberian,  and  especially  the 
Sakhalin  regime,  the  treatment  of  exiles  and 
convicts  is  invariably  of  the  most  rigidly  severe, 
if  not  of  the  most  cruel  character,  it  may  come 
almost  as  a  disappointment,  and  certainly  as  a 
surprise,  to  hear  of  such  fishing  stations  as  that 
I  have  just  described.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  this  station,  like  the  others,  is  situated  just 
where  trading  and  whaling  vessels  to  and  from 
Kamchatka  pass  in  full  sight;  that  these  robust 
convict  fishermen  had  two  good  boats,  and  that 
there  was  but  one  soldier  there  between  six 
murderers  and  escape;  that  for  weeks  and  weeks 
together  they  led  this  picnic  life,  free  to  scheme 
and  plot,  their  position  suggests  either  inexcus- 
able laxity  and  mismanagement,  or  the  exist- 
ence of  a  mutual  confidence  between  the  con- 
victs and  the  officials  which  was  highly  credit- 
able to  both. 

Our  inspections  were  very  various,  and  took 
us  in  every  possible  direction.  The  hospital 
inspection  occurred  regularly  every  Sunday 
morning.  One  day  we  would  visit  the  dog  ken- 
nels, another  day  a  brickyard,  where  are  made 
the  bricks  for  chimneys  and  heating-flues.  Un- 
expectedly we  would  drop  in  at  various  private 
houses  of  convicts  and  leave  suggestions  for 
their  improvement,  take  a  look  at  harvesting  op- 
erations, or  visit  the  saw-mills,  which  are  built 
152 


LIBRA; 
^^"^"or  THE 


of 


CALIF- 


The  Occupations  of  Exiles 

on  running  streams,  whose  power  is  utilized  for 
roughly  cutting  up  forest  timber. 

The  fishing  inspections  were  the  least  fatigu- 
ing, and  more  than  once  the  Governor  would 
make  these  an  opportunity  for  a  pleasant  outing 
to  some  of  his  neighbours. 

From  many  instances  which  came  under  my 
personal  observation,  I  am  compelled  to  admit 
that  the  tendency  of  the  ofificials  appeared  to  me 
to  act  very  considerately  and  sympathetically 
towards  the  unfortunates  under  their  charge.  It 
frequently  happened  in  the  course  of  my  walks 
or  drives  with  an  official  that  we  would  come 
across  one  of  these  persons  strolHng  abroad, 
most  frequently  on  the  sea-shore,  and  if  I  was 
supposed  not  to  have  observed  this  man  before, 
my  companion  would  give  me  some  account  of 
his  history,  in  which,  without  one  exception,  so 
far  as  I  can  remember,  his  crime  would  be  men- 
tioned rather  as  a  misfortune,  while  any  special 
merit  or  skill  which  he  possessed,  and  for  which 
he  had  perhaps  been  distinguished,  would  be 
mentioned  not  only  in  a  generous  spirit,  but  al- 
most with  the  same  sort  of  local  pride  as  is  mani- 
fested in  a  provincial  American  town  when  a 
passer-by  is  pointed  out  as  "  one  of  our  leading 
citizens."  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  when 
one  of  these  persons  is  systematically  insubor- 
dinate and  troublesome,  his  conduct  is  resented 
153 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

with  a  firm  hand,  all  the  more  so  because  of 
what  the  official  must  feel  to  be  the  undeserved 
personal  ingratitude  and  indignity  displayed 
towards  himself. 

From  what  I  saw,  I  am  convinced  that  it  is 
far  too  common  for  an  exile  smarting  under 
what  he  feels  to  be  an  unjust  sentence,  to  visit 
his  resentment  upon  his  overseer,  who  has  noth- 
ing whatever  to  do  with  it,  and  so  to  force  the 
overseer  in  his  own  defence  into  a  course  of  con- 
duct which,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  political, 
might  be  designated  as  cruelty. 


154 


CHAPTER    X 

WOMEN    EXILES,    MARRIAGE    PROBLEMS,    AND 
COLONIZATION 

As  there  is  but  one  woman  to  about  every 
eight  men  in  SakhaHn,  and  as  the  female  ele- 
ment is  such  an  essential  feature  in  the  success- 
ful establishment  of  the  agricultural  villages  to 
which  the  Administration  chiefly  looks  for  the 
development  and  prosperity  of  the  country, 
women  are  treated  with  a  degree  of  considera- 
tion which  otherwise  might  be  considered 
greater  than  the  mere  factor  of  sex  could  ren- 
der just  or  expedient. 

I  have  referred  to  the  occupations  in  the 
prison  workshops.  The  work  given  the  hard- 
labour  convicts  in  the  shops  for  females  is  sim- 
ply that  of  seamstresses,  and  it  is  a  very  unusual 
thing  indeed  for  any  one  of  them  to  remain  there 
for  the  full  probationary  term.  The  Administra- 
tion, having  in  view  the  Imperial  Government's 
plans  for  the  settlement  of  the  country,  is  much 
more  anxious  to  place  them  out  of  prison  than 
to  keep  them  in  it. 

155 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

It  is  from  the  prison  probationers  alone  that 
domestic  servants  can  be  obtained.  Either  di- 
rectly from  the  prison  or  from  domestic  service, 
they  may  form  an  alliance  akin  to  concubinage, 
though,  if  the  ceremony  can  be  legally  per- 
formed, marriage  is  encouraged.  It  is  said  that 
priests  in  Sakhalin  will  not  perform  the  marriage 
ceremony  until  they  are  satisfied  that  the  condi- 
tions are  strictly  in  accordance  with  ecclesias- 
tical and  civil  law  in  the  case  of  each  applicant; 
therefore  legal  marriages  in  Sakhalin  are  some- 
what restricted.  As  regards  concubinage,  I  got 
the  impression  that  the  Administration  inter- 
feres as  little  as  possible  with  any  private  ar- 
rangement, or  change  of  arrangement,  which 
any  two  or  four  persons  of  the  two  sexes  may 
mutually  and  amicably  make.  What  I  have 
since  learned  proves  that  this  impression  was  not 
wholly  mistaken,  for  of  three  hundred  and  eight 
births  in  1890,  forty  per  cent  had  to  be  recorded 
as  illegitimate. 

Whether  from  policy  or  from  gallantry  I  will 
not  pretend  to  say,  but  it  is  certainly  true  that 
nothing  insures  for  a  female  convict  so  much 
and  such  certain  consideration  and  immunity  as 
the  accident  of  her  sex.  On  the  march  to  Sibe- 
ria a  woman  can  always  claim  a  place  in  a  telega 
if  she  prefers  riding  to  walking.  Though  she 
be  condemned  for  murder  to  hard  labour  for 

156 


Women  Exiles 

life  in  Sakhalin,  the  severest  punishment  im- 
posed upon  her  even  during  the  period  of  pris- 
on probation  is  that  of  a  seamstress  in  the  fe- 
male department  of  the  prison  workshop;  and, 
as  it  is  from  these  women  alone  that  the  families 
on  the  island  can  obtain  the  necessary  domes- 
tics, it  rests  chiefly  with  themselves,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  good  conduct,  how  quickly  they  quit 
prison,  for  the  employment  department  has 
more 'applications  for  domestics  than  it  is  able  to 
meet. 

Still  greater,  however,  is  the  demand  for 
these  persons  in  the  numerous  agricultural  vil- 
lages. This  brings  me  to  an  aspect  of  penal 
life  in  Sakhalin  which  is  very  delicate  and  com- 
plicated, and  one  that  I  can  hardly  pretend  to 
describe  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  be  thorough- 
ly just  to  all  concerned.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
female  convicts  who  do  not  become  engaged  in 
domestic  service  are,  sooner  or  later,  in  one  way 
or  another,  either  joined  by  husbands  who  be- 
come voluntary  exiles  for  the  purpose;  form 
marriage  alliances  with  male  convicts;  or,  where 
this  is  for  some  reason  or  other  legally  impossi- 
ble, settle  down,  I  believe,  in  some  sort  of  con- 
cubinage with  free  convicts.  Of  well-conducted 
female  convicts  it  may  be  truthfully  said  that 
their  special  career  is  largely  of  their  own  choos- 
ing, and  that,  while  the  condition  of  most  of 
157 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

them  is  at  least  as  comfortable  in  Sakhalin  as  it 
was  before  they  were  sent  there,  with  a  large 
number  it  is  more  comfortable  and  promising 
than  any  condition  they  had  previously  known, 
or  had  ever  thought  to  attain. 

The  marriage  question  in  Sakhalin  is  hard 
to  be  understood.  No  better  evidence  of  this 
can  be  offered  than  the  crude  remarks  to  be 
found  in  almost  any  book  in  the  English  lan- 
guage on  the  Siberian  exile  question,  even  by 
writers  who  have  themselves  been  in  Siberia. 
The  only  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  state- 
ments made  in  these  books  is  that  committal 
to  Siberia  means  a  complete  revocation  of  all 
marital  claims  and  obligations,  so  that  both  hus- 
band and  wife,  wherever  they  may  be,  are  as  if 
they  had  never  been  married;  that,  in  other 
words,  in  this  as  in  all  other  respects  the  prisoner 
sentenced  to  exile  is,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  as 
one  upon  whom  has  been  passed  and  executed 
the  sentence  of  death. 

As  a  broad  principle,  this  is  practically  true, 
but  the  inference  and  impressions  which  such 
statements,  made  without  proper  qualification, 
give  rise  to,  are  in  some  important  particulars 
incorrect. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  these  false  impres- 
sions should  be  so  general  outside  Russia,  see- 
ing that  among  the  Russians  themselves  there 

158 


Women  Exiles 

are  very  few,  indeed,  even  of  those  immediately 
concerned,  to  whom  the  laws  on  this  question 
in  their  technical  application  are  ever  known. 

In  the  eye  of  the  law,  and  in  the  practice  of 
the  Greek  or  National  Church,  the  mere  fact 
of  exile  does  not  absolve  the  criminal  from  his 
matrimonial  bond.  The  husband  or  wife,  who 
in  consequence  of  a  sentence  of  exile  is  left  be- 
hind, may,  however,  by  legal  process  especially 
provided,  apply  on  this  account  for  its  dissolu- 
tion: In  such  a  case  the  reason  is  deemed 
valid,  and  a  decree  of  dissolution  may,  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court,  be  granted.  It.  is  unneces- 
sary to  remark  that  in  such  proceedings  the 
exile  has  no  voice,  and  is  regarded  as  "  non 
est " — that  is,  as  being  really  dead.  But  it  is  of 
very  rare  occurrence  that  the  married  person 
left  behind  becomes  aware  of  this  legal  techni- 
cality. 

If  the  exile  himself  discovers  it,  his  knowl- 
edge is  probably  first  gained  from  the  priest, 
whose  aid  he  invokes  to  unite  him  in  marriage 
to  another  exile.  He  then  finds  his  position  a 
very  perplexing  one,  for  I  know  that  in  Sakhalin 
the  priest  will  not  perform  the  ceremony  in  such 
a  case  without  documentary  evidence  that  the 
person  left  behind  has  taken  advantage  of  the 
provision  of  the  law,  and  obtained  a  legal  disso- 
lution or  divorce. 

159 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Supposing  the  exile  to  be  a  husband,  it  is 
a  very  delicate  matter  for  him  to  explain  the  sit- 
uation to  his  distant  wife,  and  to  induce  her  to 
go  through  the  legal  process  he  may  indicate, 
and  to  forward  to  him  the  documentary  evi- 
dence which  may  enable  him  to  marry  the  exiled 
woman  who  is  her  rival.  Indeed,  if  he  wrote 
his  wife  a  letter  to  that  effect,  he  would  not  be 
at  all  sure  that  the  Governor  would  allow  it  to  be 
forwarded. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  should  write  his 
wife  a  glowing  account  of  his  present  situation 
and  prospects  as  a  free  convict,  and  urge  her  to 
take  advantage  of  the  government  provision  by 
which  she  and  all  their  family  may  join  him  in 
his  new  home  at  government  expense,  his  com- 
munication would  be  sure  to  reach  her,  for  the 
Administration  wants  all  the  free  colonists  in 
Sakhalin  who  can  be  induced  to  come. 

In  1890  there  were  said  to  be  in  the  island 
as  many  as  thirty-three  hundred  and  one  volun- 
tary exiles  brought  there  at  government  ex- 
pense, all  of  whom  had  chosen  to  become  set- 
tlers themselves,  in  order  to  join  a  condemned 
relative. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  ascribe  any  part  of  this 

heroic  immigration  to  the  general  ignorance  of 

the  laws  of  which  I  have  spoken,  but  I  know 

that  some  of  the  officials  think  that,  in  the  very 

160 


Women  Exiles 

dubious  condition  of  those  left  behind,  this  ig- 
norance makes  it  easier  for  them  to  cast  in  their 
lot  promptly  with  the  exiled  one. 

It  might  be  imagined  that  only  women  and 
wives  would  have  the  affection,  devotion,  and 
heroism  necessary  for  such  splendid  sacrifice 
on  behalf  of  another.  And  I  must  confess  that 
I  was  myself  greatly  astonished  to  find  that,  of 
the  total  number  of  persons  who  thus  came  vol- 
untarily to  Sakhalin  in  1890,  as  many  as  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  were  men  who  came  to 
join  exiled  wives;  while  only  thirty-eight  were 
women,  who  came  to  share  the  lot  of  exiled 
husbands. 

This  fact  was  a  great  shock  to  my  previous 
notions  of  the  relative  devotion  of  the  two  sexes 
in  Russia;  but  it  is  only  fair  to  say,  on  behalf  of 
the  women,  that  in  the  case  of  the  men  there 
are  various  items  which  might  be  regarded  as 
possible  offsets  to  their  greater  apparent  gal- 
lantry and  devotion. 

All  such  male  immigrants  have  a  distinct  po- 
sition, and  form  the  class  defined  as  agricultural 
peasants.  They  are  exempt  from  the  ordinary 
police  surveillance;  each  of  them  obtains  a  spe- 
cial grant  of  land,  and  is  supplied  with  agricul- 
tural implements;  he  is  aided  also  as  regards 
clothing,  government  rations,  or  a  money  allow- 
ance at  a  fixed  rate  per  head  for  his  family, 
'3  161 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

The  system  under  which  he  comes  is  really 
a  sort  of  "  State-aided  emigration."  Presum- 
ably these  immigrants  better  themselves  in 
every  practical  way  by  coming  to  Sakhalin,  so 
long  as  they  are  superior  to  the  mere  senti- 
ment pertaining  to  compulsory  residence  where 
the  change  may  be  wholly  to  their  advantage. 

But  what  about  the  vastly  larger  proportion 
of  free  convicts  who,  though  married,  are  not 
thus  joined  by  faithful  conjugal  partners?  What 
about  the  many  of  both  sexes  whom,  for  legal 
reasons  existing  on  the  one  side  or  on  the  other, 
the  priest  cannot  consent  to  join  together  in 
matrimony  called  ''  holy  "? 

The  Administration  will  not  assign  a  house 
and  land  to  a  free  convict  woman  if  she  is  alone. 
A  man  is  not  of  much  use  occupying  a  house 
and  land  if  he  is  single  and  alone.  The  Admin- 
istration knows  and  appreciates  the  facts,  and 
in  them  lies  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  per- 
plexing of  the  many  problems  connected  with 
the  agricultural  colonization  of  the  island,  the 
kind  of  colonization  regarded  by  the  Adminis- 
tration as  perhaps  its  supreme  reliance  for  the 
permanent  development  of  the  colony. 

In   this   perplexing   condition   of   things,   it 

may  be  asked,  What  does  the  Administration 

do?     So  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  it  does  under 

these  very  exceptional  conditions  neither  more 

162 


Women  Exiles 

nor  less  than  some  European  and  American 
states  do  under  conditions  much  more  fa- 
vourable. 

It  endeavours  to  prevent  men  and  women 
from  breaking  the  local  laws,  but  I  think  that  it 
does  not  consider  it  within  its  power  or  prov- 
ince to  compel  men  and  women  to  be  moral, 
according  to  the  interpretation  of  the  church. 
Among  these  preponderating  numbers  of  men 
and  women  legally  unmarriageable,  alliances  are 
inevitably  formed.  So  far  as  my  personal  ob- 
servation among  them  went,  I  got  the  impres- 
sion that  prostitution,  however,  is  a  rare  excep- 
tion. Indeed,  with  the  rigid  police  surveillance 
which  exists  even  in  the  agricultural  villages  as 
regards  hours,  etc.,  irregularities  of  living  are 
almost  impossible.  The  only  courses  open  to 
these  people  with  immunity  are  celibacy  or  con- 
cubinage, and  the  latter  appeared  to  me  to  be 
not  uncommon.  This  was  only  my  impression, 
however,  and  may  be  incorrect.  These  alliances 
are  maintained  in  a  manner  which  is  outwardly, 
at  least,  just  as  orderly  and  well  regulated 
as  where  the  couples  are  lawfully  married.  I 
need  not  remark  that  concubinage  is  notorious- 
ly less  prolific  than  legal  marriage,  for  reasons 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  enumerate.  Yet, 
it  is  from  these  alliances  that  about  forty  per 
cent  of  the  total  number  of  births  on  the  island 
163 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

come,  while  the  number  of  persons  Hving  in 
concubinage  is  at  least  equal  to  the  number  of 
those  living  in  lawful  marriage. 

This  condition  of  affairs  struck  me  as  one 
of  the  most  startling  facts  which  I  encountered 
in  Sakhalin.  There  must  be  many  who  natu- 
rally share  my  impression,  and  of  these  I  would 
simply  ask,  What  would  be  your  remedy?  Not 
under  other  conditions,  but  under  those  I  have 
described  as  actually  existing  in  Sakhalin? 

I  think  it  is  a  common  impression  that  Rus- 
sian women,  especially  of  the  lower  orders,  do 
not  expect  to  be  treated  with  much  affection 
even  by  men  who  are  their  own  lawful  hus- 
bands, and  that  marriage  itself  is  generally  de- 
termined chiefly  by  mutual  convenience.  The 
correctness  of  this  impression  I  am  not  at  all 
inclined  to  dispute.  I  was  daily  entering  the 
houses  of  married  couples  and  of  couples  living 
in  concubinage,  but,  except  in  a  few  instances, 
I  never  could  pretend  to  detect  any  sign  of  dif- 
ference between  them  as  to  domestic  manners 
or  general  demeanour. 

From  what  I  saw  and  from  what  I  was  told, 
however,  I  judged  that  the  unmarried  couples 
frequently  took  advantage  of  the  looseness  of 
their  bonds,  and  that  the  envies  and  jealousies 
so  apt  to  be  incident  to  such  conditions  occa- 
sionally led  to  some  little  shuffling  and  fresh 
164 


Women  Exiles 

dealing  of  the  social  pack.  The  discarding  part 
is  sometimes  done  in  a  manner  almost  tragic. 
On  one  occasion  I  was  spending  a  few  days  on 
a  visit  to  the  chief  of  police  of  one  of  the  larger 
districts  in  the  interior  of  Sakhalin.  His  house 
was  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  more  prosperous 
of  the  agricultural  villages,  the  houses  of  the 
free  convicts  stretching  right  and  left  of  him,  on 
either  side  of  the  road,  in  one  long,  broad  street. 

After  our  two  o'clock  dinner,  I  took  a  stroll 
alone  about  the  village,  dropping  in  here  and 
there  at  different  cottages,  and  thinking  to 
break  the  monotony  of  the  poor  people's  lives 
by  an  unexpected  courteous  and  friendly  visit. 

One  of  these  houses  interested  me  more 
than  any  of  the  others  had  done  as  soon  as  I 
entered,  on  account  of  the  more  orderly  ar- 
rangement of  the  furniture.  Though  built  on 
the  same  plan,  it  appeared  to  be  larger  than 
the  others.  The  outbuildings  seemed  better 
stocked  with  cattle,  the  yard  more  tidy,  and 
signs  of  prosperity  abounded  in  every  part  of 
the  establishment  to  an  unusual  degree.  Still 
more,  the  mistress  of  the  house,  who  was  the 
only  person  at  home,  was  distinctly  attractive. 
She  looked  to  be  about  thirty-five,  and  excep- 
tionally robust,  with  a  bright  colour  in  her 
cheeks  and  a  still  brighter  light  in  her  eyes. 
She  exhibited  what  one  rarely  sees  in  these  exile 

165 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

women — a  half-concealed  inclination  to  be  co- 
quettish. Moreover,  she  seemed  to  feel  hon- 
oured by  the  unexpected  event  of  a  visit  from 
a  foreign  gentleman  whom  she  knew  to  be  a 
guest  of  the  chief  of  police.  She  certainly  did 
her  best  to  make  my  call  agreeable. 

With  manifest  pride  in  the  bread  and  butter 
of  her  own  making,  she  quickly  laid  a  little 
cloth  and  placed  them  before  me,  with  a  pitcher 
of  fresh  milk  from  her  little  dairy.  In  return 
I  emptied  my  case  of  cigarettes,  as  I  knew  that 
she  would  appreciate  these  more  than  any- 
thing else  I  was  able  to  ofifer.  In  the  evening, 
on  recounting  some  of  the  incidents  of  my  after- 
noon visits,  I  particularly  emphasized  to  the 
chief  the  comparative  superiority  of  this  woman 
and  her  housekeeping,  regarding  which  he 
seemed  to  agree  with  me. 

The  day  after  my  return  to  KorsakofTsk  a 
telegram  was  received,  from  which  it  appeared 
that,  at  the  very  time  I  was  being  thus  enter- 
tained by  this  woman,  her  paramour,  with 
whom  she  had  lived  for  years  in  concubinage, 
was  being  distributed  in  different  parts  of  the 
forest  beyond  her  back  garden. 

Had  I  looked  closely  enough  at  the  time  of 
my  calling  on  her,  I  might  perhaps  have  per- 
ceived that  the  black  dirt  under  one  or  more  of 
her  finger-nails  was  streaked  with  red,  that  on 
i66 


Women  Exiles 

the  log  walls  of  the  room  there  were  some  dingy 
remains  of  doubtful-looking  splashes  which  a 
good  deal  of  water  had  not  quite  removed;  that 
the  floor,  which  had  at  first  struck  me  as  so  ex- 
ceptionally clean,  had  large  patches  of  a  rust- 
coloured  stain,  and  that  the  joints  of  its  rough 
planking  were  exceedingly  wet. 

From  the  facts  that  came  to  my  knowledge 
in  Korsakoffsk,  I  learned  that  on  the  evening 
preceding  my  call  upon  her,  this  woman  Lo- 
banoff  had  prepared  for  her  paramour,  with 
whom  she  had  so  long  been  living,  an  unusually 
good  and  savoury  supper,  of  which  he  had  eaten 
freely  on  his  return  from  the  forest,  where  he 
had  been  working.  His  enjoyment  of  it  had 
been  all  the  greater  because  he  had  found  that 
his  favourite  knife  had  been  so  beautifully  sharp- 
ened that,  as  he  remarked,  ''  it  cut  like  a  razor.'* 
These  facts  were  elicited  from  the  evening  po- 
lice patrol,  who  on  their  rounds  conversed  with 
him  and  afterward  saw  him  sleeping  in  his  chair. 
It  appears  that  immediately  after  they  had 
passed,  this  pleasing  woman  swept  the  newly 
sharpened  knife  across  his  throat  with  such  vig- 
our that  he  never  awoke  or  knew  what  had  hap- 
pened to  him.  She  then  carefully  hacked. the 
corpse  into  very  small  pieces,  placed  them  in  a 
sack,  and  at  dead  of  night  carried  them  through 
her  back  garden  to  the  adjacent  forest,  distrib- 
167 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

uting  the  pieces  in  such  a  way  that  the  hungry 
wolves  which  infested  that  region  would  be  sure 
to  carry  them  off  before  daybreak,  beyond  pos- 
sible discovery. 

These  facts  this  charming  assassin  afterward 
acknowledged  with  cool  indifference  to  my 
friend  the  chief  of  police.  At  the  time  of  my 
call  upon  her  nobody  had  inquired  after  the 
murdered  man.  As  he  had  been  engaged  in 
chopping  wood  all  alone  in  the  same  part  of  the 
forest  to  which .  his  quivering  fragments  had 
since  been  carried,  and  had  gone  and  returned 
by  the  same  back-garden  path,  there  had  been 
no  reason  why  his  neighbours  should  either 
have  seen  him  or  missed  him. 

A  few  hours  after  my  call  upon  the  Loba- 
noff  woman,  and  at  about  the  time  when  I  was 
talking  to  my  host  in  her  praise,  she  heard  that 
tap  on  the  shutter  which  marks  the  nightly 
visit  of  the  police  patrol,  and  to  which  she  re- 
sponded without  delay. 

Instead  of  revealing  the  terror  she  must  have 
felt,  this  woman  gaily  upbraided  the  patrol  for 
making  so  much  noise  when  her  man,  as  they 
could  see,  was  not  only  in  bed,  but  fast  asleep. 
This  wonderful  self-control  and  cleverness, 
backed  by  the  dummy  in  the  bed,  which  under 
the  circumstances  they  did  not  venture  to  dis- 
turb, caused  the  patrol  to  make  their  accus- 
i68 


Women  Exiles 

tomed  mark  opposite  the  name  of  Lobanoff  and 
her  paramour,  showing  that  at  the  time  they 
called  at  the  house  both  were  present.  For  two 
days  more  in  succession  did  Lobanoff  practise 
her  cajolery  and  delusion  upon  the  credulous 
watch. 

When  confronted  with  proofs,  instead  of 
relenting,  she  suddenly  assumed  an  injured  and 
defiant  air,  and,  as  if  proud  of  her  superior 
cleverness,  boastingly  made  the  confession  of 
which  I  have  given  the  substance.  She  said  that 
she  had  murdered  the  man  because  she  had 
grown  tired  of  him,  and  that,  as  she  had  another 
one  whom  she  liked  better  and  who  was  ready 
to  take  his  place,  the  police  need  not  trouble, 
themselves.  Everything  could  go  on  as  before, 
only  much  better. 

What  sort  of  justice  was  meted  out  to  this 
woman  Lobanoff  I  will  discuss  later  on.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  for  the  moment,  that  for  being  such 
easy  victims  of  this  woman's  wiles,  both  the  po- 
licemen on  the  night  patrol  received  a  punish- 
ment which  was  altogether  greater  than  that 
meted  out  to  this  practised,  cold-blooded  mur- 
deress. This  last  crime  was  her  third  murder — 
but  she  was  a  woman,  and  a  pleasing  one,  espe- 
cially to  the  officials  and  to  the  persons  whom 
she  made  her  victims. 

When  all  these  incidents  in  her  confession 
169 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

were  told  me  in  Korsakoflfsk,  and  I  thought  of 
the  personal  relation  in  which  I  had  stood  to 
them,  I  was  positively  chilled  by  the  reminis- 
cence; nor  can  I  even  now  avoid  shivering  as  I 
recall  the  shocking  incidents. 

"  Have  you  seen  '  la  Belle  Femme  '  yet?  " 
officers  were  daily  asking  me  during  my  first 
week  or  two  in  Korsakoffsk.  As  we  were  sail- 
ing out  in  the  bay,  one  of  them  pointed  to  a  dis- 
tant house  beyond  the  first  hill  from  the  shore, 
and  exclaimed:  ''  There!  there  you  see  the  house 
of  our  '  belle  femme! '  "  "  Run  to  the  window, 
quick!  "  said  a  certain  lady  to  me  one  morning 
as  I  was  at  breakfast,  "  do  you  see  her?  There 
she  goes!  that  is  the  noted  Beauty  of  Korsa- 
koff sk!  She  is  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
woman  in  all  the  island  of  Sakhalin." 

An  officer  from  a  distant  post  was  on  an 
official  visit  to  KorsakofTsk,  and,  as  the  resident 
officers  were  intent  on  making  his  visit  as  agree- 
able as  they  could,  their  mess  dinners  during  his 
stay  were  the  occasion  of  a  little  extra  jollifi- 
cation. 

After  one  of  these  simple  but  lively  repasts, 
at  which  I  also  was  present,  it  was  proposed  that, 
as  the  day  was  so  fine,  we  should  all  take  a  drive, 
in  the  course  of  which  they  would  call  and  intro- 
duce me  to  "  la  belle  femme,"  of  whom  they  had 
so  often  spoken,  but  whose  face  I  had  never  yet 
170 


Women  Exiles 

seen.  Among  themselves  they  called  her 
''  Sara." 

Taking  a  road  leading  along  a  valley  to  the 
northeast,  one  of  the  only  two  roads  which  led 
from  Korsakofifsk,  and  the  only  one  going  di- 
rectly inland,  the  whole  party  of  us  started  off 
like  soldiers  out  for  a  holiday,  all  three  droschkis 
racing  each  other  to  see  which  of  us  should  be 
the  first  to  salute  the  wonderful  creature  of 
whom  I  had  so  long  been  hearing. 

By  what  appeared  to  me  an  accident  of 
courtesy,  the  visiting  major,  who  was  also  the 
ranking  ofBcer  present,  had  the  fastest  horses, 
and  he  took  a  wild  delight  in  showing  me  how 
recklessly  he  could  drive,  and  how  far  we  could 
leave  the  others  behind. 

On  the  right  of  the  road,  about  three  miles 
out,  we  reined  up  at  the  respectable-looking 
gates  of  a  solid  and  unusually  high  fence,  which 
completely  inclosed  what  seemed  to  be  a  good- 
sized  farm-house,  with  yard  and  outbuildings. 
My  friend  the  major,  who  sprang  from  the 
droschki  in  order  to  win  the  first  prize,  found,  to 
his  evident  chagrin  and  disappointment,  that  the 
gates  were  barred. 

After  knocking  several  times,  we  heard  a 

merry  laugh  from  within,  the  meaning  of  which 

seemed  to  be  that  Sara  was  at  home,  but  not 

to  us  for  the  present,  and  that  we  must  wait.    A 

171 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

few  minutes  after  the  others  had  come  up,  and 
all  had  hitched  their  horses,  the  wooden  bar  was 
pulled  back,  the  gate  was  opened,  and  behold, 
the  belle  of  Sakhalin  stood  before  us! 

She  greeted  us  in  a  way  that  showed  that, 
like  England,  she  expected  every  man  to  do  his 
duty,  and,  so  far  as  her  Russian  friends  were 
concerned,  she  had  no  reason  to  feel  disappoint- 
ed in  their  salutations.  As  there  were  several 
lively  young  heifers  in  the  yard,  the  gates  were 
quickly  closed  behind  us,  and  the  house  was 
taken  possession  of,  as  if  by  rollicking  school- 
boys. 

There  was  plenty  of  milk,  bread  and  butter, 
and  everybody  helped  himself  as  if  he  were  an 
old  and  privileged  friend.  Our  unexpected  visit 
had  surprised  her  at  a  moment  when  she  could 
not  see  others  even  of  such  importance  as  our- 
selves. I  think  there  was  a  back  gate.  She 
was  evidently  not  only  surprised  but  embar- 
rassed, and  perhaps  for  sufficient  reason.  Sara 
greatly  interested  me.  The  impressions  she 
'made  upon  me  were  surprise,  admiration,  and 
deep  repulsion.  I  think  that  she  was  about  the 
wildest,  most  generous  and  handsome  animal  I 
had  ever  encountered. 

She  was  tall,  of  perfect  proportion,  and,  al- 
though over  thirty,  as  lithe  as  a  cat.  Her  face 
was  an  elongated  oval,  with  a  faultlessly  Grecian 
172 


Women  Exiles 

nose.  Her  complexion  was  mellow,  warm, 
clear,  like  a  dark,  full-ripened  peach.  She  had 
a  wonderful  wealth  of  dark  hair,  and  eye-brows 
to  match.  Her  profile  was  thoroughly  distin- 
guished, but  her  principal  attraction  and  power 
lay  in  her  eyes.  It  was  not  only  in  their  excep- 
tional largeness,  nor  in  the  graceful  sweep  of  her 
long  eye-lashes,  but  chiefly,  I  think,  in  the  mar- 
vellous brilliancy  which  the  lashes  veiled.  In 
this  particular  I  think  I  have  never  seen  their 
equal.  When  she  laughed,  however,  and  dis- 
played her  black  and  broken  teeth,  my  only 
feeling  was  entire  repulsion.  This  defect,  to  me 
so  shocking,  would  be  entirely  unnoticed,  how- 
ever, by  my  friends  of  Sakhalin,  where,  in  the 
total  absence  of  dentists,  nearly  every  adult 
mouth  is  a  scene  of  neglect.  Though  there  was 
no  attempt  at  concealment,  I  did  not  see  all  that 
passed,  and  so  even  if  I  would  I  could  not  de- 
scribe it. 

There  were  two  good-looking  children  in 
the  house,  of  whom  it  was  simply  known  that 
Sara  was  their  mother.  In  a  room  ofif  the  kitch- 
en I  espied  behind  a  door  the  overcoat  of  a  po- 
liceman, belonging,  as  I  afterward  learned,  to 
the  man  who  was  her  present  husband,  so  to 
speak. 

Both  the  farm-yard  and  the  house  were  well 
stocked,  and  in  every  way  it  was  evident  that 
173 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Sara  was  not  only  prosperous,  but  comparatively 
rich  in  her  own  right.  I  had  no  doubt  but  that 
this  wild,  untamed  beauty  could  have  and  do  al- 
most anything  her  caprice  might  dictate,  and 
that  scarcely  any  officer  in  Korsakoffsk  could 
command  greater  influence  or  immunity  in  case 
of  need. 

By  birth  Sara  was  a  Circassian  gipsy.  She 
became  the  favourite  mistress  of  a  prince  in  the 
Caucasus,  whom  she  murdered  in  favour  of  one 
of  his  enamoured  rivals.  For  this  and  other 
wanton  crimes  of  a  similar  nature  she  was  finally 
exiled  to  Sakhalin.  It  was  evident,  however, 
that  her  wild  caprices  were  still  untamed,  and 
that  the  career  of  which  one  shuddered  to  think 
was  perhaps  even  yet  far  ipom  its  termination. 

As  we  were  driving  home,  I  remarked  to  one 
of  my  friends  that,  while  they  were  in  a  certain 
apartment,  I  had  seen  some  man  disappearing 
into  one  of  her  back  rooms.  To  this  the  officer 
replied,  "  Oh,  yes,  trust  him;  he  knows  well 
enough  when  to  keep  out  of  the  way." 

All  that  I  learned  regarding  the  punishments 
of  women  can  be  given  in  a  few  words.  The 
mere  accident  of  sex  gives  every  wc^nan  pretty 
nearly  the  same  general  exemption  as  a  title  of 
nobility  gives  a  man.  For  special  crimes  com- 
mitted in  Sakhalin  women  may  be  sentenced  to 
special  punishments,  but,  if  the  sentences  are 
174 


Women  Exiles 

carried  out  at  all,  it  is  with  so  much  considera- 
tion as  to  amount  to  little  more  than  a  formality. 

I  think  it  would  be  strictly  within  the  facts 
if  I  should  say,  that  for  fresh  crimes  in  Sakha- 
lin, if  committed  by  women,  there  is  scarcely 
even  a  pretence  at  the  administration  of  justice. 

I  have  given  an  account  of  the  remarkably 
cold-blooded  and  atrocious  third  murder  com- 
mitted by  the  woman  Lobanofif,  who  enter- 
tained me  in  the  very  room  in  which  a  few  hours 
before  she  had  committed  the  tragic  butchery. 
As  my  unpleasant  association  with  this  case 
naturally  gave  me  a  keen  interest  in  everything 
incident  to  the  punishment  of  the  murderess,  I 
lost  no  opportunity  of  questioning  officers  as 
to  the  progress  of  the  prosecution  and  its 
results. 

Three  days  after  the  discovery  and  confes- 
sion, I  remarked  to  the  chief  of  the  Korsakoffsk 
police  that  I  was  surprised  that  Lobanoff  had 
not  yet  arrived  at  the  prison,  and  asked  him 
what  course  was  to  be  taken,  and  when  she 
would  be  tried.  Would  she  be  flogged,  or  tried 
by  court-martial  and  hanged?  Note  his  an- 
swer: 

"  My  dear  sir,  what  can  we  do  with  a 
woman?  There's  no  place  for  her  in  the  Kor- 
sakoffsk prison,  and  if  there  were,  what  good 
would  it  be  to  take  her  there?  Only  extra  cost 
175 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

to  the  Administration.  You  know  as  well  as  I 
do  that  we  can't  flog  a  woman.  She  is  not  a 
subject  for  a  court-martial,  so  she  can't  be 
hanged." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  you  will  certainly  have  to 
do  something  with  her.  When  will  she  be 
tried?  " 

"  What's  the  good  of  going  to  the  trouble 
of  a  trial?  She  has  confessed  everything,  and 
boasts  of  it  all.  A  trial  would  be  a  mere  farce 
under  such  circumstances." 

"  But  where  is  she  now  at  this  moment?  " 

"  Why,  at  home — where  else  would  she  be? 
Don't  you  think  that's  the  best  place  for  her?  " 

There  she  remained,  and  the  rival  of  the 
murdered  man  soon  reigned  in  his  stead. 

I  have  given  this  particular  case  in  detail, 
partly  because  of  my  close  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  it,  and  partly  because  I  think  that  it 
covers  fairly  well  some  others  which  I  know 
only  by  report.  I  was  told  that  cases  of  this 
type,  both  as  to  the  cause  of  the  crime  and  the 
immunity  from  punishment,  were  not  very  in- 
frequent in  Sakhalin,  and  I  almost  regretted 
that  in  such  instances  women  should  not  get 
the  rights  to  which  their  equality  with  men  en- 
titles them. 

For  the  larger  part,  the  faces  of  these  exile 
women  are  heavy  and  hard,  bjank  and  impas- 
176 


Women  Exiles 

sive;  if  at  all  positive,  they  are  sullen  and  resent- 
ful. By  thirty  or  thirty-five  they  are  pretty  sure 
to  be  minus  several  front  teeth,  which  are  never 
replaced.  This  latter  condition  in  some  degree 
belongs  not  only  to  both  sexes,  but  to  all  classes 
in  Sakhalin.  In  no  part  of  the  world  have  I 
been  so  deeply  taught  by  contrast  to  appreciate 
the  amount  of  personal  comeliness  which  mod- 
ern society  owes  to  the  artful  implements  of 
skilful  dentistry. 

While  on  the  subject  of  female  beauty,  or 
rather  ugliness,  among  the  exile  women  in  Sak- 
halin, I  may  remark  that,  with  the  exception  of 
the  two  wanton  assassins  I  have  mentioned,  few 
other  instances  occur  to  me  in  which  any  one  of 
the  women  had  any  excuse  for  the  slightest  per- 
sonal vanity.  Much  worse  than  their  features, 
however,  is  their  expression.  I  think  I  can  re- 
call about  four  faces  of  women  and  ten  faces  of 
men  of  this  lower  convict  class  in  all  Sakhalin  in 
which  I  have  seen  a  little  light  relieving  and  off- 
setting the  predominant  shade. 

If  from  one  of  these  unfortunate  creatures 
you  happened  to  hear  a  pleasant  and  cheerful 
word,  it  seemed  to  come  through  them,  not 
from  them,  the  expression  of  the  face,  like  that 
of  a  ventriloquist,  being  rigidly  at  variance  with 
the  words  uttered. 

It  is  not  only  because  of  the  regulation  that 

•4  177 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

convicts  in  Sakhalin,  as  elsewhere,  do  not  look 
at  the  person  to  whom  they  speak,  but  for  a 
deeper  reason;  and  every  part  of  the  person, 
every  attitude  and  motion,  come  to  be  uncon- 
sciously expressive  of  their  condition  and  grade. 

In  these  unfortunates  the  more  conspicuous 
personal  features  are:  stooping  shoulders,  droop- 
ing head,  mouth  drawn  down,  restless  eyes 
which  seem  to  see  not,  ears  which  seem  to  hear 
not,  arms  limp,  hands  with  the  open  fingers 
hanging  by  their  own  weight  pendant  by  the 
side,  a  gait  which  is  loose,  shufBing,  purpose- 
less— all  suggestive  of  beings  who  are  dead  as  to 
purpose,  though  still  animate. 

A  native  Siberian  has  no  need  to  ask  a 
stranger  or  a  night  beggar  whether  he  is  a  Rus- 
sian or  not.  In  such  old  convicts  the  features, 
attitudes,  motions,  have  become  almost  as 
marked,  quite  as  indelible  as  some  of  those 
which  distinguish  a  distinct  nationality  or  a  dif- 
ferent race. 

In  Europe  and  in  America,  over  and  over 
again,  detectives  have  told  me  that  they  know  at 
once  if  a  stranger  is  an  old  jail-bird  the  moment 
they  set  eyes  on  him,  whatever  may  be  his  dis- 
guise. This  is  one  of  the  things  most  detectives 
are  apt  to  be  conceited  about.  Ask  one  of  them, 
however,  how  he  knows,  and  with  a  complacent 
smile  his  instructive  answer  will  be:  "Ah!  now 

178 


Women  Exiles 

you've  got  me.     I  can't  tell  you  what  it  is,  but 
I  know  it  the  minute  I  see  it." 

It  may  be  true,  as  alleged,  that  some  of  these 
acquired  criminal  marks  and  mannerisms  are 
even  transmitted  to  posterity.  By  those  who 
believe  this,  instances  are  easily  discoverable. 
The  Sakhalin  peculiarities  of  expression  are 
rather  due  to  a  purposeless,  hopeless  apathy. 


179 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE   KNOUT,    ITS   USE   AND    EFFECTS 

The  resources  of  the  Administration  in  the 
matter  of  additional  punishments  for  local 
crimes  are  exceedingly  limited. 

These  consist  in  bad-character  marks,  with 
prolonged  prison  residence  in  accordance  with 
them;  diet  punishments;  chains,  particularly 
leg-chains  and  manacles;  assignment  to  a  chain- 
gang  when  engaged  in  quarrying,  road-making, 
or  other  work  outside  the  prison;  and  perhaps 
the  attachment  of  one  end  of  the  prisoner's  chain 
to  his  wheel-barrow. 

For  crimes  of  extreme  gravity  there  are  two 
other  forms  of  punishment.  The  first  of  these 
is  whipping  and  flogging.  This,  if  by  the  knout, 
can  only  be  inflicted  after  a  special  criminal 
process  of  law  and  a  sentence  of  the  court  to 
that  effect,  also  a  medical  examination  and  re- 
affirmation of  sentence  within  eight  hours  of  its 
execution.  The  birch  can  be  ordered  by  the 
Governor  at  any  time.  The  second  punishment 
I  scarcely  ought  to  include,  as,  according  to 
i8o 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

Russian  law,  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  any 
ordinary  legal  tribunal  to  order  or  to  inflict  it. 
I  refer  to  hanging  and  shooting. 

It  is  within  the  power  of  the  ordinary  court 
of  law  to  find  a  true  bill  of  high  treason  against 
a  criminal.  In  that  case  the  prisoner  may  be  re- 
tried by  court-martial,  and  this  court,  on  con- 
viction, can  sentence  the  prisoner  to  be  hanged 
or  shot.  This  course  might  be  taken,  say,  for 
the  murder  of  a  high  oflficial,  but  it  is  so  un- 
usual that,  so  I  was  told,  only  one  person  had 
ever  been  hanged  in  the  whole  island,  and  that 
was  for  the  killing  of  an  ofBcial. 

For  extreme  crimes,  then,  the  principal  and 
almost  only  punishment  available  is  some  kind 
of  whipping  or  flogging. 

During  the  worst  days  of  Australian  exile, 
the  frequent  executions,  instead  of  suppressing 
crime,  created  among  the  convicts  a  positive 
mania  for  being  hanged.  It  is  alleged  that, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  contagion  became  so 
strong  that  convict^  killed  on  the  spot  strangers 
who  crossed  their  path,  for  no  reason  or  motive 
except  to  secure  for  themselves  a  public  execu- 
tion with  all  the  tragic  and  impressive  distinc- 
tion it  impHed.  Without  attempting  at  this  mo- 
ment to  give  a  psychological  explanation,  I  may 
remark,  that,  after  extensive  observation  and 
inquiry,  I  cannot  find  that'  in  Sakhalin  or  any- 
i8i 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

where  in  Siberia  there  has  ever  been  a  corre- 
sponding mania  for  being  flogged. 

In  comparing  the  value  of  the  two  kinds  of 
punishment  as  deterrents,  this  contrasting  fact 
would,  I  think,  be  generally  acknowledged  as 
distinctive,  and  should  be  allowed  its  relative 
significance. 

The  floggings  in  Sakhalin  are  of  different 
kinds,  as  well  as  of  different  degrees.  The  most 
dreadful  kind  to  witness,  or  to  receive,  is  by  the 
knout. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Lansdell  says,  in  his  excellent 
book,  that  he  tried  all  through  Siberia  to  hunt 
up  a  knout,  but  could  not  find  one,  even  in  a 
museum,  until  he  reached  Nickolaivsk,  on  the 
far  eastern  coast. 

Flogging  with  rods,  or  what  in  English  pub- 
lic schools  is  called  birching,  is  the  kind  more 
commonly  practised  throughout  the  island. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  book  of  trav- 
els, or  even  a  romance,  containing  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  case  of  flogging  by  the  knout,  which 
the  author  himself  pretended  to  have  wit- 
nessed. 

Such  a  pretension,  if  made,  would  need  to 
be  accompanied  by  a  special  explanation,  for,  as 
is  well  known,  such  scenes  are  not  allowed  to  be 
witnessed  except  by  officials  whose  duty  com- 
pels them  to  be  present,  and  by  possibly  some 
182 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

prisoners  to  whom  the  spectacle  may  be  ex- 
pected to  be  useful. 

The  officials  dare  not,  the  prisoners  cannot, 
pubHsh  accounts  of  such  scenes.  It  is  very  cer- 
tain that  foreign  travellers  would  be  the  very  last 
persons  who  would  be  invited  to  such  spectacles. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  the  use  of  the 
knout  in  flogging  has  been  prohibited  as  a  reg- 
ular practice  throughout  the  whole  of  continen- 
tal Siberia.  In  Sakhalin  alone  is  its  use  still  gen- 
erally and  legally  continued;  and  as  up  to  the 
time  of  my  visit  no  English-speaking  author 
had  ever  been  able  to  reach  the  island,  any  de- 
scriptions of  the  punishment  could  have  been 
only  from  hearsay. 

It  appears  that  in  1890,  out  of  about  twelve 
thousand  convicts  in  Sakhalin,  five  hundred  and 
eighty-three  were  flogged  in  one  way  or  an- 
other. In  how  many  of  these  cases  the  knout 
was  used,  I  was  unable  to  ascertain. 

Special  interest,  therefore,  may  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  witness  a  case 
of  flogging  by  the  knout,  w^th  all  its  attendant 
circumstances,  from  beginning  to  end,  and  that 
I  was  in  one  way  a  participator  in  a  part  of  the 
official  proceedings  attending  the  execution  of 
the  horrible  sentence. 

This  came  about,  as  will  be  seen,  by  an  acci- 
dental concurrence  of  circumstances,  in  which 

183 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

everybody  concerned,  except  perhaps  myself, 
was  entirely  blameless.  These  circumstances 
were  such  as  could  have  been  arranged  before- 
hand by  no  amount  of  ingenuity,  and  they  made 
it  possible  for  the  Governor  to  give  his  consent 
to  my  presence  with  safety. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  I  mentioned  in 
my  account  of  my  first  day  in  Sakhalin  a  cere- 
monious visit  to  the  Governor  by  a  newly  ar- 
rived ofBcial,  preparatory  to  his  assuming  the 
duties  of  his  position  as  the  civil  medical  officer 
of  the  Korsakoffsk  settlement. 

The  duties  incumbent  on  this  officer  includ- 
ed the  medical  surveillance  of  the  prison,  medi- 
cal attendance  upon  prisoners,  all  the  civil  offi- 
cials and  their  families,  and  upon  all  others  in 
the  settlement  of  Korsakoffsk,  excepting  only 
the  officers  and  men  of  the  military  garrison, 
which  had  its  own  military  surgeon. 

The  reports  of  a  drowning  accident  had 
caused  me  to  hurry  down  to  the  beach,  where 
I  found  this  gentleman.  Dr.  A ,  endeavour- 
ing to  resuscitate  '  the  patient.  Asking  him 
where  he  had  learned  the  method  of  artificial 
respiration  he  was  employing,  he  told  me  that 
it  was  the  American  method,  known  as  the 
"  direct  method "  of  Professor  Howard,  and 
that  he  had  learned  it  in  St.  Petersburg.  He 
was  immensely  astonished  at  finding  that  the 
184 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

person  who  was  showing  his  pleasure  and  suc- 
cess in  the  returning  Hfe  of  the  patient  was  him- 
self the  author  of  the  method,  and  from  that  day 
onward,  both  in  the  hospital  and  out  of  it,  Dr. 

A treated  me  with  as  much  consideration 

and  respect  as  if  I  were  the  senior  physician  of 
the  post,  and  he  merely  an  assistant. 

Judged  by  the  estimate  many  people  have  of 

a  Russian  prison  surgeon,  Dr.  A-; would  be 

a  disappointment  in  nearly  every  particular. 
His  dignified,  courtly,  and  gentle  learning  sug- 
gested that,  but  for  accidental  circumstances 
best  known  to  himself,  he  would  more  naturally 
have  been  a  popular  ladies'  doctor  in  Moscow  or 
St.  Petersburg. 

When  not  otherwise  engaged,  it  was  in  his 
pleasant  companionship  that,  either  in  the  out- 
door or  indoor  department  of  the  hospital,  I  fre- 
quently passed  my  morning  hours.  At  other 
times,  by  day  and  night,  the  hospital  was  at  my 
disposal  as  one  of  the  points  of  view  in  which 
and  from  which  to  study  the  Sakhalin  system. 

What  with  the  indoor  patients  and  the  out- 
door patients  together,  his  morning's  work  was 
rarely  finished  before  twelve  o'clock. 

On  a  certain  Saturday,  as  Dr.  A and 

myself  were  walking  away  from  the  hospital 
much  earlier  than  usual  (why,  I  didn't  know),  I 
observed,  what  was  very  unusual  in  him,  that  he 

185 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

was  unconsciously  but  intently  knitting  his 
brows,  was  trying  to  look  straight  down  upon 
the  ground  as  he  walked,  and  was  very  absent. 

In  a  playful  way  I  said,  "  My  good  Doctor, 
it  seems  to  me  you  are  thinking  of  something 
which  is  in  front  of  you."  At  this  profound  re- 
mark he  cast  a  comical  glance  at  the  only  two 
buttons  he  was  capable  of  seeing  upon  his  com- 
fortably filled-Qut  waistcoat,  and  good-naturedly 
repHed:  "Yes,  you  are  quite  right.  There^s 
more  before  me  just  now  than  I  like.  I  have  to 
be  at  the  court  at  eleven  o'clock  to  examine  a 
prisoner.  He  has  been  condemned  to  receive 
the  maximum  legal  sentence  of  a  hundred 
lashes  by  the  knout.  To-day  is  the  flogging 
day,  and  if  I  decide  that  he  can  live  through  it, 
the  sentence  will  be  executed  almost  immedi- 
ately. He  is  a  weakly  sort  of  a  creature,  and  I 
feel  very  anxious  about  taking  the  responsibility 
of  it.  At  the  same  time,  as  you  know,  I  am  a 
new  man  here,  and  it  might  be  unpleasant  for 
me  to  venture  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  a 
sentence  passed  by  the  court,  except  for  rea- 
sons which  would  be  manifestly  unquestionable. 
The  fact  is,  I  was  just  thinking  if  I  couldn't 
manage  to  get  you  to  help  me  through  the  mat- 
ter. You  see,  as  you  have  been  a  university 
professor  and  are  a  guest  of  the  Governor,  a  pro- 
fessional concurrence  on  your  part  would  forti- 
i86 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

fy  my  position,  whatever  it  might  be,  and  make 
it  impregnable." 

''  All  right,"  said  I.  "  There  is  but  one  con- 
dition I  must  insist  upon,  and  that  is,  I  must 
have  a  free  hand,  and  say  just  what  I  find  true 
in  the  case.  For  the  rest,  you  may  reckon  on 
me  to  the  end  of  the  chapter." 

Thereupon  we  walked  direct  to  the  court- 
house. On  entering  the  court-room,  we  found 
the  Governor  already  there,  also  the  police  clerk, 
the  clerk  of  the  court,  and  another  officer. 

On  entering,  I  thought  that  the  face  of  my 
friend,  the  Governor,  betrayed  a  shade  of  sur- 
prise and  only  half-concealed  annoyance  at  my 
presence.  The  doctor,  whom  he  beckoned,  had 
a  sotto  voce  interview  with  him,  and  on  return- 
ing to  me  said,  in  a  rather  embarrassed  way, 
that  he  had  explained  to  the  Governor  his  rea- 
sons for  requesting  my  assistance,  and  that  it 
was  all  right. 

It  did  not  escape  my  attention,  however, 
that  this  was  the  first  morning  that  the  Governor 
and  I  had  been  so  long  apart  from  each  other, 
and  as  the  matter  in  hand  was  of  more  than 
usual  interest  and  importance,  it  would  have 
been  natural  for  him  to  have  mentioned  this 
event  to  me  unless,  upon  the  whole,  he  had  pre- 
ferred that  I  should  not  know  of  it. 

While  I  fully  sympathized  with  his  appar- 

187 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ent  regret  at  seeing  me  there,  the  impending 
event  was  to  myself  of  such  very  exceptional 
though  painful  interest  that  (if  I  must  confess 
it)  I  fully  intended  that  nothing  less  than  a  di- 
rect refusal  on  his  part  should  balk  my  purpose 
of  seeing  the  sad  business  through  to  its  very 
end. 

Over  the  magisterial  bench  were  the  usual 
large  coloured  chromos  of  the  Czar  and  the 
Czarina.  Except  for  a  seat  for  the  clerk,  there 
were  no  seats,  benches,  or  other  furniture  in  the 
court-room,  for  no  audience  is  ever  there  to  use 
them. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  clanking  of  chains 
and  the  tramp  of  a  military  guard  on  the  stair- 
case outside  indicated  that  the  culprit  had  ar- 
rived in  the  building.  The  Governor  took  his 
seat  in  the  imposing  magisterial  chair,  and  a 
green  baize  cover  was  removed  from  what 
looked  like  a  beautiful  silver  epergne.  This, 
Hke  the  mace  in  some  other  countries,  symbol- 
ized the  royal  presence.  Having  done  this,  the 
clerk,  who,  Hke  the  Governor,  was  in  full  uni- 
form, with  much  formality  took  his  official 
seat. 

At  a  sign  from  him,  the  folding-doors  were 

thrown  back,  and  the  guard,  consisting  of  five 

soldiers,  two  of  whom  carried  cocked  revolvers, 

brought  in  the  prisoner,  who  was  heavily  man- 

i88 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

acled.  His  chains  bound  his  ankles,  legs,  waist, 
and  wrists;  by  the  latter  he  was  also  attached 
to  a  soldier  on  each  side  of  him. 

The  clerk  having  read  the  indictment  and 
the  verdict,  the  prisoner  was  stripped  to  the 

waist,  and  Dr.  A asked  to  examine  him. 

This  each  of  us  did,  both  separately  and  to- 
gether. 

In  our  consultation  which  followed,  the  final 
questions  to  be  answered  were:  "  Will  the  exe- 
cution of  the  sentence  probably  prove  fatal?" 
I  was  obliged  to  confirm  Dr.  A.'s  finding  in  this, 
that  there  was  no  organic  disease  of  the  heart 
or  of  the  lungs,  and  that  the  circulatory  system 
was  essentially  sound.  Beyond  that,  however, 
I  distinctly  declined  to  go.  I  said  that,  having 
had  no  experience  in  this  form  of  punishment, 
I  could  form  no  opinion  as  to  the  prisoner's 
ability  to  bear  it.  That  point  I  must  leave  en- 
tirely to  the  more  experienced  judgment  of  Dr. 
A ,  who  announced  that  he  could  not  pre- 
sume to  intervene  between  the  sentence  of  the 
court  and  its  execution  by  a  mere  opinion,  un- 
less that  opinion  was  based  upon  such  an  or- 
ganic lesion  as  could,  if  required,  be  verified 
by  another  surgeon. 

On  receiving  this  decision,  the  Governor  re- 
affirmed the  sentence  of  the  court,  and  ordered 
it  to  be  executed.  The  proceedings  were  duly 
189 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

recorded  in  the  presence  of  the  prisoner,  who 
was  then  marched  back  to  the  prison. 

I  had  supposed  that  we  should  at  once  pro- 
ceed to  the  place  of  execution,  but,  much  to  my 
relief,  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  court,  the  Gov- 
ernor took  me  across  to  the  neighbouring  house 
of  a  military  officer,  where  it  was  apparent  that 
our  arrival  was  no  surprise,  for  the  first  unusual 
thing  which  attracted  my  attention  was  a  dinner- 
table  in  the  back  garden,  which  was  spread  for 
four,  whereas  the  family  of  our  host  consisted 
only  of  one,  he  being  a  bachelor. 

Our  al  fresco  dinner  passed  ofif  perhaps  with 
a  little  less  spirit  than  was  usual,  and  I  think  it 
is  more  true  than  he  would  have  it  known,  that 
the  Governor  was  considerably  depressed  by  his 
approaching  task.  Observing  his  humour,  I 
talked  on  a  dozen  other  topics,  but  rigidly 
avoided  the  subject  which  I  knew  engrossed 
the  thoughts  of  both  of  us. 

As  he  and  I  neared  the  entrance  to  the  pris- 
on together,  much  to  my  surprise,  instead  of  en- 
tering it,  he  wheeled  sharply  to  the  right  and 
entered  his  own  house  just  opposite.  I  then 
seriously  began  to  think  that  out  of  considera- 
tion for  his  feelings  I  ought  to  go  off  some- 
where and  cease  to  embarrass  him  with  my  com- 
pany any  longer. 

On  our  entering  the  house,  however,  the 
190 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

dinner,  which  had  all  this  time  been  kept  wait- 
ing for  us,  was  instantly  announced  and  hurried 

forward  by  Madame  S .     We  all  sat  down 

together,  the  Governor  and  I  appearing  as  in- 
nocent as  possible  of  the  dinner  we  already  had 
taken. 

By  the  time  this  second  meal  was  over  it 
was  getting  well  on  to  four  o'clock;  still  not  a 
word  had  passed  between  us  except  about  vari- 
ous things,  in  which  neither  of  us  just  then  felt 
any  earthly  interest. 

Much  to  my  relief.  Dr.  A now  walked 

into  the  house,  and,  as  he  was  shuffling  about 
with  a  good  deal  of  uncertainty  of  manner,  I 
joined  him  in  an  accidental  way,  and  casually 
remarked  interrogatively  that,  as  it  was  so  late, 
I  presumed  that  the  intended  event  had  been 
postponed.  A  suppressed  half-whispered  "  im- 
possible "  was  his  only  answer. 

By  the  clank  of  the  Governor's  sabre  in  the 
adjoining  room,  I  knew  that  he  was  rigging 
himself  up  in  official  fashion,  and  a  moment 
after,  without  a  remark  except  his  gruff  "  Kho- 
rosho — Pashol  "  (all  right — go  ahead),  we  three 
were  walking  off  together  across  the  street  to 
the  great  prison  gates  just  opposite. 

Passing  through  the  central  quadrangle  and 
to  the  right  up  to  the  most  northerly  one,  of 
which  I  have  previously  spoken,  we  found  a  cor- 
191 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

poral's  guard  drawn  up  near  its  centre.  A  few 
paces  farther  up,  in  front  of  the  kamera  for  the 
worst  of  the  criminals,  and  just  on  the  crest  of 
the  hill,  stood  a  large,  low,  rather  narrow,  and 
very  solid-looking  wooden  bench  or  table  about 
fourteen  inches  high,  having  in  its  top  pairs  of 
slit-shaped  perforations.  This  was  the  "  kaby- 
la,"  or  marl — i.  e.,  the  flogging-table. 

From  the  kamera  close  beyond,  two  guards 

brought  forth  the  criminal.     Dr.  A stepped 

forward  and  again  examined  his  chest  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

Being  divested  of  his  manacles  by  his  guard, 
the  prisoner  laid  himself  full  length  upon  the 
kabyla  as  directed,  face  downward.  By  straps 
passed  through  the  perforations  in  the  top  of 
the  table,  he  was  immovably  secured  to  it  by  the 
ankles,  legs,  chest,  and  arms,  much  after  the 
manner  seen  at  "  La  Roquette." 

About  eight  paces  in  front  of  the  head  of  the 
kabyla  stood,  from  right  to  left,  the  corporal's 
guard,  the  Governor,  the  civil  surgeon,  and  my- 
self. Close  beside  the  culprit,  on  the  left,  stood 
a  subordinate  official  (the  marker)  with  a  large 
memorandum-book  in  his  hand.  At  different 
open  doors  and  windows,  heads  of  convicts 
could  be  seen  crowded  together,  all  breath- 
lessly waiting  for  the  appearance  of  the  execu- 
tioner. 

192 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

From  the  same  kamera  from  which  the  cul- 
prit had  come,  a  tall,  stalwart  man  now  stepped 
forth.  His  face  was  stern,  but  without  malice. 
He  had  in  his  hand  what  appeared  at  first  sight 
to  be  a  short-handled,  long  bullock  whip.  As 
he  came  forward  he  drew  the  multiple  thongs 
through  his  fingers  in  an  expert  fashion  as  if  to 
straighten  them,  stalked  three  or  four  paces  in 
a  straight  line  from  the  kabyla  on  its  right,  and 
marked  the  distance  with  his  heel.  This  man 
was  the  executioner.  With  military  precision 
he  planted  his  right  foot  firmly  on  the  marked 
spot,  and,  raising  his  hand  as  high  as  he  was 
able,  with  a  clever  wrist  movement  sent  the 
thongs  swishing  backward  and  forward,  the  hiss 
ending  with  a  ping  like  that  of  a  Minie  bullet. 
Slightly  changing  the  position  of  his  foot,  he 
repeated  this  proceeding  two  or  three  times. 
He  was  simply  measuring  his  stroke. 

Fixing  himself  with  extra  firmness  in  his 
latest  position,  the  executioner  skilfully  kept 
the  lash  poised  in  the  air,  as  an  eagle  poises 
when  about  to  dart  upon  its  prey.  Fully  as- 
sured now  of  his  accuracy,  he  shot  a  swift  and 
impatient  glance  at  the  Governor,  who,  accus- 
tomed to  the  signal,  sternly  gave  the  final  word 
of  command.  At  least,  I  know  that  he  com- 
menced to  give  it,  but  before  the  word  was  fully 
out  of  his  mouth,  it  was  completely  drowned  by 
x5  193 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

the  shrieks  and  yells  of  the  culprit.  I  could  only 
just  catch  the  voice  of  the  executioner  as  he 
shouted  loudly  and  deliberately,  '^  N-u-m-ber 
one!  "  answered  by  that  of  the  marker  as  he  re- 
peated and  recorded  it.  I  quickly  began  to  ap- 
preciate what  had  appeared  to  me  mere  osten- 
tatiousness  in  the  preliminary  stroke  practice. 
For,  having  once  been  started,  the  executioner's 
strokes  were  as  steady,  as  rhythmical,  as  precise, 
as  if  done  by  a  steam-engine,  and  as  unrelenting. 
Such  was  the  precision  of  them,  that  at  the  end 
of  the  fifth  there  were  exactly  fifteen  lines  scor- 
ing the  buttocks  as  evenly  as  if  they  had  been 
marked  by  a  piece  of  chalk.  Their  force  so 
completely  expelled  the  blood  from  the  surface 
that  with  chalk  the  lines  could  not  have  been 
made  whiter.  By  the  wrist  manoeuvre  the 
blows  were  applied  with  such  carefully  graded 
force  that  at  the  end  of  the  first  stage  the  part 
already  attacked  looked  as  if  covered  with  an 
even  sheet  of  white  paper.  There  was  not  a 
drop  of  blood. 

Up  to  this  point,  or  about  the  twenty-fifth 
stroke,  so  violent  were  the  attempts  of  the  pris- 
oner to  struggle  and  to  yell,  that  death  from  suf- 
focation seemed  as  likely  as  from  the  flogging 
itself.    Then  came  a  dead  silence. 

The  second  stage  commenced  when  the  blood 
began  to  flow,  and  as  this  proceeded  more  and 
194 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

more  freely,  the  victim  appeared  to  revive  and  to 
come  to  life  again.  As  a  spectacle,  this  was  the 
more  horrible  part  of  the  punishment,  though 
for  the  victim  it  was  much  less  painful.  At  every 
blow,  each  of  the  three  knout-ended  thongs, 
like  the  claws  and  beak  of  a  vulture,  pecked  out 
fragments  of  dripping  flesh,  which  were  scat- 
tered in  all  directions  by  the  backward  swing  of 
the  lash.  To  avoid  them,  the  officers — who  were 
in  white  uniform — and  myself  had  to  step  back 
and  back  for  a  considerable  distance.  After  the 
skin  of  the  side  attacked  had  been  completely 
detached  and  scattered,  the  screams  of  the  poor 
wretch  subsided  into  groans  and  sobs.  The  ex- 
cavation, now  about  the  size  and  depth  of  a 
soup  plate,  being  filled  with  overflowing  blood, 
which  poured  over  the  edge  of  the  table,  the 
force  of  the  blows  was  very  much  deadened. 
The  deeper  and  deeper  the  ploughing,  the  less 
and  the  less  was  the  pain. 

At  last,  when  it  seemed  as  if  the  time  would 
surely  never  arrive,  the  marker,  all  out  of 
breath,  shouted  out,  in  a  loud  and  prolonged 
voice,  '*  F-i-f-t-y,"  the  number  recorded.  The 
Governor  cried  "  Halt!  " 

At  this  point  Dr.  A stepped  forward, 

felt  the  prisoner's  pulse,  stepped  back  to  the 
Governor,  and  made  a  report  of  the  man's  condi- 
tion. After  a  pause  of  about  five  minutes,  the 
195 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

executioner  and  marker  changed  sides,  like 
cricketers. 

Again  the  executioner  went  through  the 
same  process  as  at  the  first  starting.  Again  the 
final  command  was  given,  and  with  the  same 
shrieks  and  yells  on  the  part  of  the  culprit  and 
the  same  mechanical  rhythm,  persistence,  and 
relentlessness  on  the  part  of  the  executioner, 
the  scene  continued  until,  to  my  infinite  relief, 
a  relief  which  I  certainly  think  was  shared  by 
everybody  else  as  well  as  by  the  culprit  him- 
self, the  marker  shouted  out  the  welcome  word 
"  N-i-fi-e-t-y-n-i-n-e."  The  hundredth  stroke  is 
always  omitted  as  a  token  of  imperial  mag- 
nanimity. 

When  what  remained  of  this  poor  wretch 
had  been  unstrapped,  he  was  not  dead,  and  his 
quivering  body  was  borne  away  to  the  hospital. 
The  kabyla,  or  flogging-table,  was  swilled  with 
buckets  of  water,  and  during  the  drying  of  it 
I  examined  and  experimented  with  the  bloody 
knout. 

The  handle  of  this  instrument  was  of  thick 
wood,  about  eighteen  inches  long.  The  main 
thong  was  of  stout  rawhide,  tied  into  a  knot 
about  eight  feet  from  the  handle,  where  it  was 
split  into  three  smaller  thongs.  These  were 
about  three  feet  long,  the  ends  terminating, 
not  in  lead  or  iron  hooks,  as  I  have  seen  falsely 
196 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

alleged,  but  in  knots  so  short  and  hard  as  to 
amount  to  almost  the  same  thing.  At  the  time 
I  examined  it,  the  thongs  were  nearly  covered 
with  blood-clots  and  clinging  fragments  of  flesh. 
It  was  a  most  sickening  object. 

"  However  could  you  endure  to  witness  such 
a  dreadful  scene?  "  This  is  a  question  which 
friends  have  asked  me  more  than  once.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  such  a  trip  as  I  was  taking  was 
not  entered  upon  chiefly  for  enjoyment,  but 
rather  for  personal  knowledge  beyond  dispute. 

Of  all  reported  Siberian  cruelties,  there  was 
not  one  the  alleged  facts  about  which  had  been 
so  much  disputed,  and  which  had  remained  so 
much  unverified  by  actual  observation,  as  this 
form  of  punishment,  and  the  precise  method  in 
which  it  was  carried  out.  When,  therefore,  the 
opportunity  of  settling  these  points  in  an  au- 
thentic manner  at  last  occurred,  I  could  not 
allow  myself  to  turn  my  back  upon  it.  On  be- 
half of  the  rest  of  mankind,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
endure  the  ordeal,  that  they  might  have  at  least 
one  authentic  description  of  it. 

Another  thing  which  more  than  anything 
else,  perhaps,  made  it  possible  for  me  to  endure 
the  strain  which  otherwise,  I  must  confess, 
would  have  been  intolerable,  was  the  estab- 
lished, terrible,  and  incorrigible  barbarity  of  the 
culprit. 

197 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

This  prisoner  could  not  be  classed  even  with 
the  average  of  murderers.  Constitutionally,  he 
belonged  to  the  meanest,  most  cowardly,  merci- 
less, and  irreclaimable  of  all  the  varieties  of  crim- 
inals in  Sakhalin,  and  he  looked  all  that  he  was. 
He  had  no  admixture  of  a  single  noble  quality 
sometimes  found  in  an  assassin.  He  was  pri- 
marily a  petty,  sneaking,  pilfering  thief,  and  this 
vice  of  covetousness  overruled  every  other  pas- 
sion. On  two  occasions  before  being  sent  to 
Sakhalin,  he  had  been  guilty  of  murder.  In 
each  case  the  victim  was  a  friend,  and  in  both 
cases  his  only  motive  was  gain. 

During  his  recent  two  years'  incarceration 
there  had  been  nothing  to  tempt  him  to  steal, 
so  in  the  absence  of  bad  marks  he  had  been  con- 
ditionally released,  and  thereupon  taken  into  the 
employ  of  a  free  convict,  who,  living  alone,  was 
supposed  to  have  saved  a  little  money.  This 
man,  his  benefactor,  in  accordance  with  his 
habitually  indulgent  manner,  had,  at  the  request 
of  his  new  employee,  started  down  the  steps  of 
his  cellar  to  get  him  a  present  of  some  pota- 
toes, when  the  wretch  had  struck  him  a  fatal 
blow  from  behind,  buried  his  body  in  the  gar- 
den, and  ransacked  the  house  for  the  supposed 
savings,  which,  when  found,  turned  out  to  be 
less  than  ten  roubles. 

As  this  man  had  been  free  to  go  where  he 
198 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

chose  over  a  considerable  area,  any  official  or 
other  person  supposed  to  have  money  about 
him,  even  myself,  might  just  as  easily  have  be- 
come his  victim. 

I  have  abated  nothing  in  the  description  I 
have  given  of  the  flogging  scene,  and  I  am  free 
to  confess  that,  though  I  had,  officially  or  other- 
wise, witnessed  every  judicial  form  of  execution 
except  that  by  electricity,  this  of  flogging  with 
the  knout  was  the  most  painful  and  revolting 
within  my  experience. 

I  may  be  told  that  such  a  proceeding  as  I 
have  described  is  a  standing  disgrace  to  Russia 
and  to  civilization.  I  will  not  trouble  to  dispute 
these  customary  denunciations;  but,  taking  into 
consideration  the  nature  of  the  crime,  that  of 
the  culprit,  the  insecurity  of  officials,  the  fact 
that  there  was  no  other  punishment  in  Sakhalin 
which  this  wretch  would  fear — taking  all  these 
circumstances  together,  I  would  simply  ask  the 
critic,  ''  Had  you  been  Governor,  what  milder 
punishment  would  you  have  substituted  for 
it?" 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  add,  that  after  other 
floggings  of  a  minor  character  had  been  given 
to  other  prisoners  for  other  recent  ofTences,  I 

accompanied   Dr.   A to   the   hospital,   and 

found  the  flogged  assassin  in  one  of  the  best 

beds  in  the  best  ward,  where  everything  had 

199 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

been  carefully  prepared  for  his  reception.  In 
the  dressing  of  his  wounds,  the  selection  of  his 
diet,  as  well  as  in  the  personal  attention  of  the 
nurses,  there  was  neither  stint  nor  limitation  so 
far  as  the  resources  of  the  Hospital  Department 
permitted. 

In  the  nature  of  the  case  his  treatment  called 
for  very  Httle  medicine,  but  rather  for  moderate 
stimulation  and  all  the  nourishment  he  could 
take,  and  as  he  suffered  very  little  actual  pain, 
his  condition  and  prospects  were  regarded  by 
some  of  the  other  patients  as  being  rather  envi- 
able than  otherwise. 

To  an  ordinary  observer,  and  indeed  to  any- 
body, his  wound  was  certainly  sufficiently 
shocking,  for  the  entire  surface  fell  into  a  shade 
of  gangrene  and  sloughed  away  in  pultaceous 
masses,  leaving  an  excavation  which,  for  size 
and  depth,  I  have  never  seen  equalled  except 
in  a  few  cases  of  shell  wounds  on  the  field  of 
battle.  //■ 

As ^ the  process  of  repair  was  necessarily  a 
long  one,  the  treatment,  which  had  to  be  most 
generous,  gave  him  a  long  period  of  such  lux- 
ury as  might  by  many  of  his  class  be  regarded 
as  a  good  offset,  if  not  sufficient  compensation, 
for  his  punishment. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  medical  history 
of  the  case.  Those  who  are  interested  in  it  may 
200 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

find  it  on  page  484  of  the  London  Lancet  of 
1 89 1.  It  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only  one  of 
its  kind  duly  recorded  in  any  medical  journal  in 
Europe. 

In  this  published  account,  I  felt  constrained 
to  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  ''  humane, 
gentle,  and  kind  "  manner  in  which  the  medical 
treatment  was  conducted,  and  accordingly  got 
credit  in  England  for  having  written  thus  merely 
to  please  my  Russian  friends. 

The  largest  number  of  strokes  with  rods  I 
have  seen  given  at  one  time  is  fifty. 

In  this  case,  the  culprit  was  a  very  strong 
man,  and  the  court  proceedings  immediately 
preliminary,  as  also  the  medical  examination, 
described  in  the  case  of  flogging  with  the  knout, 
did  not  take  place.  The  prisoner,  who  was  with- 
out manacles,  and  unattended  by  any  guard, 
came  out  alone  from  the  same  northern  kam- 
era,  walked  direct  to  the  kabyla  and  was 
strapped  down  upon  it  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  other  one  had  been.  The  executioner  and 
the  recorder  or  marker  likewise  took  up  their 
respective  positions,  except  that  the  executioner 
stood  much  nearer  to  his  victim. 

On  the  ground  at  his  right  lay  a  bundle  of 

rods,  one  or  two  of  which,  after  examination,  he 

selected   and   laid   on   the   top   of  the   bundle. 

Then,  without  any  preliminary  distance  mark- 

201 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ing,  he  intimated  in  a  minute  or  two  that  he 
was  ready. 

At  the  word  of  command  from  the  Governor, 
the  executioner,  his  rod  already  raised  above 
his  head,  brought  it  down  upon  the  exposed 
buttocks  with  his  accustomed  deUberation  and 
precision. 

The  "  number  one  "  which  he  shouted  was 
duly  reiterated  and  recorded  by  the  marker, 
the  process  being  continued  with  mechanical 
precision,  except  for  a  momentary  halt  for  a 
new  rod,  until  number  fifty  was  reached, 
when  the  halt  always  called  at  this  number  was 
final. 

The  part  attacked  during  this  proceeding 
assumed  various  shades,  white,  red,  and  blue 
succeeding  and  commingling  with  each  other, 
but  right  up  to  the  end  there  was  not  a  drop 
of  blood  apparent,  though  in  places  the  skin 
seemed  considerably  broken. 

A  fact  for  which  I  felt  particularly  grateful 
was  that  from  first  to  last  this  plucky  fellow  did 
not  utter  a  sound,  and  jumped  up  when  he  was 
unstrapped  as  if  he  thought  that  he  had  got 
what  he  deserved  and  was  thoroughly  satisfied 
with  it. 

He  stepped  back  to  his  kamera  as  lively  as 
he  had  come  out,  and,  though  I  expected  him 
in  the  outdoor  department  of  the  hospital  after- 
202 


ft    ^WIVERSITY 

The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 


ward,  I  never  saw  or  heard  anything  more  of 
him. 

I  afterward  examined  the  rods  provided  for 
this  occasion.  They  were  about  half  as  large 
again,  perhaps,  but  otherwise  not  unlike  those 
employed  on  the  sons  of  English  noblemen  by 
very  good  and  kind  masters  at  Eton  and  other 
public  schools.  The  number  of  strokes  given 
varies  greatly — indeed,  it  may  be  as  low  as  ten. 
I  have  been  told  by  persons  who  have  never 
been  in  Russia  that  the  number  is  sometimes 
as  many  as  a  thousand.  However,  fifty  is  the 
highest  number  I  have  myself  ever  seen  given  at 
one  time,  the  effect  being  generally  about  the 
same  as  that  just  described. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  on  the  capri- 
ciousness  of  "  public  sentiment,"  especially  on 
subjects  with  which  the  public  has  no  personal 
acquaintance. 

For  a  certain  period  public  sentiment  abol- 
ished flogging  totally  in  England,  and  without 
discrimination,  because  it  was  degrading  to  hu- 
manity, and  forthwith  and  ever  since  a  part  of 
that  humanity  has  indulged  in  battering  other 
parts  of  humanity,  especially  wives  and  children, 
to  such  a  degree  that  a  reaction  has  taken  place, 
and  the  English  bench  has  returned  to  flogging 
as  the  best  remedy  in  certain  cases. 

Before  I  went  to  Siberia  I  was  myself  in- 
203 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

clined  to  join  the  chorus  of  foreign  protest 
against  all  flogging  in  Russia,  particularly  as 
practised  in  Siberia.  On  a  near  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  all  the  conditions  in  Sakhalin, 
however,  I  became  convinced  that  I  had  been 
looking  through  the  wrong  end  of  the  telescope 
— not  at  facts,  but  at  fictions  based  on  facts. 

In  the  days  of  Australian  exile,  it  was  not 
the  worst  criminals  of  England  that  were  sent 
to  that  colony — they  were  hanged  at  home. 

I  have  mentioned  elsewhere  that  among 
these  exiles  hanging  was  not  held  in  such  dread, 
either  in  England  or  Australia,  as  to  be  a  de- 
terrent; that,  on  the  contrary,  in  Australia  it 
came  to  be  regarded  as  rather  a  distinction; 
that  instead  of  acting  as  a  warning,  it  gave  the 
stimulus  of  example,  and  that  at  times  this  was 
so  infectious  that  many  convicts  committed 
murder  for  no  other  reason  than  to  secure  the 
sensation  of  a  public  execution. 

I  need  hardly  repeat  that  in  Sakhalin,  on 
the  contrary,  the  larger  proportion  of  the  exiles 
are  criminals  of  the  very  first  class,  correspond- 
ing, as  a  class,  to  the  murderers  who  in  England 
are  soon  to  be  hanged. 

With  some  of  the  men  in  Sakhalin,  senti- 
ment or  any  moral  sense  seems  in  too  many 
instances  either  never  to  have  existed,  or  to  be 
completely  in  abeyance.  The  only  sense  which 
204 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

can  with  any  confidence  be  appealed  to  is  that 
of  fear,  and,  so  far  as  my  observation  goes,  the 
only  thing  they  dread  and  shrink  from  is  phys- 
ical pain.  As  regards  this,  many  of  those  who 
are  otherwise  the  most  incorrigible,  are  the 
most  shrinking  cowards. 

I  have  never  known  or  heard  of  one  of  this 
class  for  whom  the  knout  came  to  have  any  fas- 
cination. A  flogging  with  the  knout  confers  no 
distinction;  an  ambition  for  it  has  never  by  infec- 
tion become  epidemical.  It  is  never  regarded 
by  a  convict  with  equanimity,  nor  is  tolerance  of 
it  acquired  by  experience  of  it.  By  each  and  all 
of  them  the  knout  never  ceases  to  be  regarded 
with  supreme  dread. 

In  the  absence  of  magnificent  prisons,  un- 
limited warders,  and  separate  appliances  for 
every  variety  of  carefully  graded  punishments, 
flogging  as  a  substitute  seems  to  be  in  Korsa- 
kofifsk  the  only  efficient  and  final  reliance  within 
the  means  of  the  Administration. 

The  arguments  adduced  in  favour  of  the 
knout  are,  that  it  is  inexpensive,  convenient, 
prompt,  can  be  used  anywhere  at  any  time,  and 
confers  no  public  distinction  as  offset  to  the 
punishment;  that  it  is  a  form  of  punishment 
which  can  be  repeated  at  discretion,  with  full 
opportunities  for  reform  in  the  intervals;  that  it 
can  be  exactly  regulated  according  to  the  crime; 
205 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  that,  as  the  maximum  sentence  is  never 
carried,  out  except  for  crimes  which  in  other 
countries  would  incur  capital  punishment,  the 
knout,  by  comparison,  allows  the  victim  many 
chances  in  his  favour. 

It  is  further  pointed  out  that  the  supreme 
fear  of  the  knout  is  with  many  prisoners  the 
only  deterrent,  and  that  in  the  prisons  this  fear 
is  of  greatest  help  to  a  short-handed  staff  of  offi- 
cials in  the  maintenance  of  discipline;  that  un- 
der the  loose,  gregarious  methods  now  in  vogue 
in  the  prison  management,  it  is  only  by  the 
maintenance  of  the  knout  or  of  some  other  form 
of  corporeal  punishment  equally  swift,  sure,  and 
dreaded,  that  convicts  can  be  protected  against 
each  other,  or  deterred  from  rioting  and  mas- 
sacre. 

"  Am  I  to  understand,  then,  that  you  actu- 
ally approve  of  such  a  barbarous  practice  as  the 
use  of  the  knout  in  Sakhalin?  "  is  a  question 
which  in  very  deprecatory  tones  has  been  put  to 
me  more  than  once  by  philanthropic  friends  for 
whom  I  have  the  greatest  esteem,  but  who  have 
never  seen  Russia. 

My  answer  has  been,  "  Try  to  imagine  your- 
self in  the  place  of  any  one  of  the  officers  un- 
fortunately on  duty  in  Korsakofifsk,  impotent 
for  reform,  compelled  to  enforce  existing  regu- 
lations as  he  finds  them,  his  own  life  in  constant 
206 


The  Knout,  Its  Use  and  Effects 

peril  from  murderers  inside  his  own  house,  and 
from  the  hundreds  more  outside  of  it  on  every 
hand." 

In  connection  with  such  questions  it  must 
always  be  borne  in  mind  that  Siberia  is  in  Asia, 
that  SakhaHn  is  farther  from  European  Russia 
than  even  Siberia  proper,  that  even  the  Euro- 
pean Russians  profess  themselves,  very  properly, 
to  be  as  yet  but  partly  civilized,  and  that  the 
mass  of  the  exiles  are  at  best  only  the  very 
dregs  of  that  partial  civilization  as  found  in 
semi-barbarous  Asiatic  provinces. 

I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  a  personal 
knowledge  and  experience  of  the  actual  condi- 
tions in  Sakhalin  would  be  a  very  valuable  help 
to  such  as  feel  it  their  duty  to  deliver  a  public 
judgment  on  the  alleged  barbarity  of  the  knout, 
as  compared  with  the  refinement  of  hanging. 

Contrasting  the  triangle  whipping-posts 
found  in  all  Her  Majesty's  prisons  with  the  ka- 
byla,  or  perforated  table,  used  in  the  Russian 
prisons,  I  said  in  my  report  to  the  London  Lan- 
cet: "  From  a  medical  standpoint  the  physical 
results  of  flogging  as  I  have  seen  it  in  its  va- 
rious forms  in  Siberia  have  disappointed  me. 
In  every  case  the  primary  shock,  and  also  the 
secondary  shock,  have  been  less  than  I  had 
looked  for. 

"  Bearing  in  mind  the  fatal  results  alleged  to 
207 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  occurred  when  flogging  was  in  vogue  in 
the  English  army,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
the  better  endurance  of  Russian  victims  may 
be  partly  explained  by  the  horizontal  position 
maintained  during  the  flogging.  The  fact  that 
the  head  is  all  the  time  lower  than  the  heart,  is 
calculated  to  restrain  the  tendency  to  syncope 
so  common  in  the  perpendicular  position.  As 
regards  the  position  of  the  culprit  during  flog- 
ging, a  more  cruel  and  dangerous  method  than 
the  triangle  could  hardly  be  devised,  and  I  am 
very  much  astonished  that  in  Her  Majesty's 
prisons  this  or  an  upright  wooden  post  still  con- 
tinues to  form  a  part  of  the  prison  armamen- 


208 


CHAPTER   XII 

LIFE  OF  THE  OFFICIALS DANGERS  OF  CRUELTY 

It  certainly  cannot  be  said  that  the  lot  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  officials  in  Sakhalin  is  al- 
together a  happy  one.  So  well  and  generally  is 
this  understood  that,  except  in  the  agricultural 
and  scientific  departments,  when  an  officer  in  St. 
Petersburg  or  any  part  of  European  Russia  is 
promoted  to  a  post  in  Sakhalin,  I  believe  it  is 
common  to  ask  what  he  has  done. 

Officials  of  various  grades  have  told  me  of 
their  own  accord  the  amount  of  actual  pay  they 
received,  and  I  must  confess  that  it  seemed  so 
small  as  to  be  unfavourable  to  official  integrity 
of  administration.  If  I  remember  correctly,  I 
was  told  that  the  official  pay  of  the  Governor  at 
Korsakofifsk  does  not  exceed  two  hundred  and 
fifty  roubles  a  month  and  quarters,  or,  say,  two 
to  three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  an  amount 
which  I  should  think  must  be  a  mere  item  in 
the  total  outlay  his  position  requires. 

A  staff  officer,  who  was  a  captain  of  several 
years'  standing,  told  me  that  his  pay  was  seventy 
i^  209 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

roubles  a  month  and  quarters,  or  less  than  five 
hundred  dollars  a  year.  The  priest,  though  he 
had  several  children,  fared  not  much  better,  and 
any  fees  which  elsewhere  might  have  come  to 
him  must  have  been  meagre  to  the  last  degree. 

With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  small  rugs 
at  the  Governor's,  I  never  saw  a  bit  of  carpet  in 
any  house  in  Korsakoffsk.  In  no  other  house 
did  I  see  a  room  which  was  used  exclusively  as 
a  bed-room.  For  the  most  part  the  bedsteads  in 
use  were  merely  trestle  cots,  which  were  either 
put  up  and  taken  down  daily,  or  placed  in  any 
part  of  any  room  where  they  were  least  in  the 
way. 

Unlike  some  of  the  other  unmarried  officers, 
the  stafif  captain  I  have  mentioned  had  a  fair- 
sized  house  to  himself.  Like  all  the  others,  it 
consisted  of  a  single  story.  I  had  frequently 
passed  through  it,  from  the  kitchen  through  the 
big,  bare  sitting-room,  to  an  apartment  beyond, 
and  it  had  occurred  to  me  more  than  once  that 
I  had  never  seen  where  my  friend's  bed-room 
was,  or  where,  indeed,  it  could  be.  One  morn- 
ing, having  to  call  for  him  for  an  early  expedi- 
tion, I  unintentionally  found  it  out. 

In  the  large  uncarpeted  sitting-room  was  a 
very  shabby  sofa — not  even  a  sofa-bedstead.  It 
was  this  that  was  both  his  bed  and  bedstead. 
A  special  advantage  about  this  simple  arrange- 

2IO 


Life  of  the  Officials 

ment  is  that  it  is  never  absolutely  necessary  to 
take  off  one's  boots,  and  undressing  in  its  full 
ordinary  sense  is  superfluous. 

I  am  not  suggesting  that  this  indifference  to 
sleeping  conveniences  is  peculiar  to  Sakhalin. 
In  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  Siberia,  where  or- 
dinary luxuries  were  easily  to  be  had  by  those 
who  could  afford  them,  I  have  seen  military 
officers,  not  only  single  but  married  also,  con- 
tent with  a  plain  wooden  shelf,  inferior  in  finish, 
but  otherwise  not  unlike  the  bunks  in  the  steer- 
age or  forecastle  of  a  passenger  ship. 

Whatever  is  included  in  the  government 
commissariat  is  supplied  to  the  officials  at  prices 
fixed  by  the  Administration.  Everything  else 
is  extremely  expensive,  except  wines,  spirits, 
and  tobacco,  which  are  obtainable  by  officers 
under  special  concessions. 

As  regards  the  cost  of  clothing,  the  officers 
have  their  own  way  of  getting  theirs,  and,  what 
with  the  tailoring  and  boot-shops  in  the  prison, 
I  judge  that  the  outlay  for  it  is  a  very  small 
matter. 

Judging  from  appearances,  and  from  the  to- 
tal absence  of  fashion,  I  should  think  that  the 
wardrobe  expenses  of  the  ladies  and  families 
must  be  still  less.  Whatever  any  lady  might  be 
wearing,  it  looked  as  if  she  and  some  ancestor 
had  always  worn  it,  and  as  if  it  could  never  have 

211 


r 

Prisoners  of  Russia 

fitted  worse  than  at  that  moment.  Not  corsets 
but  comfort  seemed  to  be  the  rule  observed  by 
all  the  ladies  in  Korsakoffsk. 

As  nearly  as  I  can  remember,  I  think  that  I 
never  saw  a  single  coin  except  in  or  from  my 
own  hands.  The  amounts  played  for  at  cards 
were  never  seen  except  as  entries  made  in  little 
memorandum-books.  How  mutual  accounts 
were  settled  I  never  learned. 

The  duties  of  the  officials  cannot  be  said  to 
be  very  exacting,  yet  none  of  them  seemed  to 
have  any  conception  of  any  form  of  voluntary 
exercise. 

Every  officer  wore  spurs  as  a  part  of  his 
uniform,  and  also,  I  suspect,  that  he  might  make 
the  self-assertive  and  authoritative  clank  in  walk- 
ing; but  not  one  of  them,  not  even  the  Governor 
commanding  the  garrison,  did  I  ever  see  on 
horseback.  That  may  have  been  partly  owing 
to  the  fact  that  only  one  of  them  owned  an  ani- 
mal of  any  kind,  and  that  was  a  dog.  There 
were  forty  or  more  horses  in  the  Governor's 
service,  but  they  were  government  property, 
and  no  officer  could  use  one  of  them  except  by 
permission  of  the  Governor. 

The  most  active  officials  were  the  military 

officers  of  the  garrison,  the  commander  of  which 

was  a  keen  disciplinarian  who  kept  his  officers 

and  men  in  constant  training,  not  only  in  their 

212 


Life  of  the  Officials 

tactics,  but  more  especially  in  their  rifle  practice, 
he  himself  being  a  very  superior  marksman. 
In  this  exercise  he  always  generously  invited  me 
to  join  him,  but  I  never  succeeded  in  lowering 
his  reputation  in  firing  without  a  rest. 

All  the  officials  with  rank  seemed  to  have  had 
a  good  education,  and  to  have  once  on  a  time 
studied  the  modern  languages — all,  except  Eng- 
lish. They  were  not  only  intelligent,  but  in  a 
remarkably  uniform  degree  also  vivacious,  cour- 
teous, and  amiable. 

It  did  not  seem  to  me,  however,  that  the 
intellectual  hfe  of  the  settlement  was  danger- 
ously high.  I  did  not  discover  anybody  in  it 
who  was  a  regular  subscriber  to  a  distant  news- 
paper, nor  did  I  ever  see  anybody  in  it  read- 
ing one. 

Respecting  books  it  was  somewhat  differ- 
ent.    I  have  spoken  of  the  little  high  shelf  of 

disused  books  of  Madame  S ,  the  wife  of  the 

Governor.     Dr.  A ,  as  a  matter  of  course, 

had  a  few  professional  books.  The  priest  also 
had  a  library,  but  he  was  very  much  amused 
and  very  apologetic  when  I  asked  him  to  show 
it  to  me.  I  should  think  that  the  books  of  every 
kind  in  Korsakoffsk  may  have  numbered,  all 
told,  about  forty. 

The  priest  and  myself  did  some  translating 
together,  but  except  at  church  I  do  not  remem- 
213 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ber  to  have  seen  anybody  looking  into  a  book 
during  my  entire  stay  on  the  island. 

Officials  are  not  troubled  by  the  expenses 
of  schooling,  for,  aside  from  the  httle  institution 

maintained  by  Madame  S for  the  children 

of  exiles,  there  is  no  school  in  the  settlement. 

Mercifully  there  are  very  few  children.  The 
largest  family  is  that  of  the  priest,  and  his  chil- 
dren are  trained  by  himself.  The  children  in 
the  other  families  are  quite  young,  and  what  lit- 
tle training  they  get  is  what  they  receive  at 
home.  I  never  saw  an  official  take  a  drive,  or 
a  walk,  alone  merely  for  pleasure.  To  drive,  he 
must  get  a  droschki  from  the  Governor.  There 
are  only  one  or  two  roads,  that  go  along  the 
coast  to  the  right  and  along  a  valley  to  the  left 
of  the  town,  but  it  is  considered  unsafe  for  a 
single  person  to  go  far  enough  to  make  it  inter- 
esting. I  need  not  say  that  this  would  apply  in 
a  much  greater  degree  to  a  pedestrian. 

I  never  saw  even  two  officials  drive  out  to- 
gether merely  for  pleasure  but  once,  and  that 
was  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  to  "  la  belle 
femme,"  which  I  have  described. 

I  never  saw  an  officer  drive  a  lady  for  pleas- 
ure except  once,  when  we  were  going  out  for  a 
picnic  in  considerable  numbers,  and  then  we  did 
not  venture  more  than  a  couple  of  miles  from 
the  town. 

214 


Life  of  the  Officials 

On  one  occasion,  at  her  urgent  request,  the 
Governor  consented  to  let  me  take  a  lady  out 
a  short  distance  to  give  her  a  riding-lesson,  but 
after  starting  I  was  called  back  to  make  certain 
about  the  condition  of  my  revolvers.  Although 
this  lady  afterward  begged  the  Governor  to  allow 
her  to  have  the  lesson  repeated,  it  somehow 
happened  that  we  did  not  go  again. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  lives  of  the 
officials  are  only  a  little  less  circumscribed  than 
the  lives  of  the  exiles  themselves.  Call  them 
official  exiles,  or  exiled  officials,  and  in  either 
case  you  will  not  be  far  wrong;  either  term  will 
be  tolerably  correct. 

It  is  not  beside  the  truth  to  say  that  in  their 
leisure  time  the  occupations  of  the  officers  are 
narrowed  down  to  this:  During  the  day,  eating, 
drinking,  and  cards;  during  the  later  hours, 
cards,  eating,  and  drinking. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  in  many 
respects  the  position  of  the  priest  allows  of  an 
exception  in  his  case.  He  possesses  at  least  a 
dozen  dusty  books  which  pertain  to  his  calling, 
and  some  of  them  he  occasionally  consults.  He 
has  no  weakness  either  for  eating,  drinking,  or 
cards,  though  he  is  always  ready  to  take  a  mod- 
erate share  in  all  of  them. 

His  duties,  too,  are  much  more  varied  than 
those  of  the  other  officials.     In  addition  to  his 

215 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

church  work,  he  has  to  keep  numerous  records, 
for  as  chaplain  of  the  post  he  is  a  state  officer 
as  well  as  a  priest.  His  life,  like  that  of  the  la- 
dies, is  passed  chiefly  in  his  own  uncomfortable 
house,  except  when  he  is  in  the  church.  Only 
on  two  occasions  have  I  ever  seen  him  out  of 
doors  except  when  going  there  or  to  the  Gov- 
ernor's residence.  His  life,  which  appeared  to 
me  to  be  near  perfection,  is  mainly  that  of  a 
recluse.  He  is  not  only  resigned  to  his  posi- 
tion, but  is  content.  Indeed,  I  cannot  imagine 
any  condition  in  which  this  rare,  meek,  humble- 
minded  man  would  be  or  could  be  otherwise,  if 
in  the  path  of  duty. 

It  is  upon  the  wives  and  families,  however, 
that  the  burden  of  this  kind  of  life  falls  with  the 
most  crushing  effect. 

Except  for  a  very  occasional  picnic,  outdoor 
life  they  have  absolutely  none. 

Outside  of  Korsakofifsk  village,  the  nearest 
lady  on  whom  the  Governor's  wife  could  call  is 
two  days  distant,  within  an  almost  unbroken  for- 
est, dangerous  in  summer  and  impassable  in  win- 
ter, except  by  the  dog-sledges  which  then  trav- 
erse it  for  more  than  three  hundred  miles  on 
postal  service. 

Within  the  village  there  are  only  five  offi- 
cials who  are  married.  These  five  families  alone 
constitute  the  circumference  of  the  circle  within 
216 


Life  of  the  Officials 

which  life  is  passed  by  an  officer's  wife,  day 
after  day,  month  after  month,  year  after  year, 
with  scarcely  a  walk  or  a  drive,  or  any  sort  of 
diversion  or  other  interest,  except  the  church. 
I  do  not  say  that  this  in  itself  is  necessarily 
monotonous,  but  one  can  easily  imagine  that  to 
some  people  it  might  become  so. 

After  installing  herself  in  whichever  house 
is  assigned  to  her  husband,  one  first  difficulty  of 
an  official's  wife  is  in  obtaining  one  or  more 
suitable  domestics. 

The  convict  women  who  reach  Sakhalin 
are,  generally  speaking,  much  more  ignorant, 
vicious,  and  degraded  than  the  men,  as,  before 
a  woman  is  sentenced  to  that  doom,  every  dis- 
crimination is  made  in  her  favour.  As  women 
convicts  in  Siberia  are  never  runaways,  none  is 
forwarded  to  Sakhalin  on  this  account.  All 
come,  therefore,  only  by  sentence  for  an  initial 
crime,  or  successive  crimes,  of  the  greatest  mag- 
nitude. Of  twenty  convictions  I  inquired  into, 
sixteen  were  for  murder,  and  two  for  burning 
down  houses  with  murderous  intent. 

I  had  been  innocently  congratulating  one 
of  the  ladies  on  the  fact,  as  I  supposed,  that  she 
could  have  the  pick  of  servants,  and  that  the 
Administration  would  be  glad  to  let  her  have  as 
many  of  them  as  she  liked  without  wages. 

She  quickly  informed  me  that  on  that  point 
217 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

there  was  certainly  nothing  to  be  congratulated 
about,  that  the  "  pick  of  servants  "  meant  on  her 
side  an  application  for  a  domestic,  and  on  the 
part  of  the  Administration  an  assignment  to  her 
of  one  of  the  dreadful  creatures  I  have  described, 
if  there  was  one  available;  "  and  mark  you,"  she 
added,  "  at  a  rate  of  wages  fixed  by  the  Admin- 
istration." 

Having  succeeded  in  getting  somebody  who 
is  willing  to  come  to  her,  the  mistress  will  have 
to  try  to  train  her  in  even  the  most  elementary 
duties,  and,  by  a  quiet  course  of  kindness  and  of 
coaxing,  to  get  the  best  she  can  out  of  her. 

Although  habit  mitigates  it,  the  mistress  is 
never  free  from  apprehension  lest  this  domestic, 
always  suspicious,  may  have  her  old  murderous 
instincts  aroused  by  some  accidental  word  or 
incident.  Once,  when  a  lady  complained  to  me, 
and  with  manifest  reason,  about  one  of  these 
dreadful  domestics,  I  asked,  "  But  why  don't 
you  send  her  back  and  get  another?  "  Her  an- 
swer was  sententious.  "  Another!  Yes,  and 
perhaps  a  worse." 

As  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned,  convict 
women  are  in  great  demand  in  other  directions, 
and  where  they  can  have  greater  freedom.  It 
is  only  the  least  attractive,  the  most  obnoxious 
of  the  newcomers,  therefore,  who  will  consent 
to  domestic  service  at  all.  It  will  be  easy  to  be- 
218 


Life  of  the  Officials 

lieve  me,  then,  when  I  say  of  the  domestics  in 
Korsakoffsk,  and  I  think  I  have  seen  them  all, 
that  of  not  one  of  them  could  it  be  said  that  she 
possessed  what  seemed  like  a  single  redeeming 
feature. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  parlour-maid 
of  the  Governor  would  be  an  exception;  yet  I 
never  felt  safe  when  she  was  about,  her  murder- 
ous career  was  so  vividly  stamped  on  her  face, 
her  demeanour  was  so  sullen,  that  when  she 
brought  my  early  morning  cup  of  tea  to  my  bed- 
room I  invariably  kept  my  eye  on  her  move- 
ments until  she  was  well  out  of  the  room  again. 

I  judge  that  it  is  partly  owing  to  the  de- 
pravity and  insufficiency  of  the  domestics  that 
steel  knives  and  forks  which  would  require 
cleaning  are  unknown.  Instead,  all  these  arti- 
cles are  of  the  common  plated  kind,  which  need 
only  to  be  washed.  I  also  noticed  that  an  old- 
fashioned  mangle  weighted  with  stones  has  to 
do  all  the  ironing,  the  latter  process  being  ap- 
parently unfamiliar.  The  habits  in  wearing  ap- 
parel, as  in  innumerable  other  things,  have  to 
be  adjusted  accordingly. 

It  was  no  wonder  that,  excepting  the  Gov- 
ernor, nobody  ventured  to  keep  more  than  one 
of  these  domestics  at  a  time. 

Each  housewife  accordingly  endures  a  dou- 
ble form  of  slavery.  On  the  one  hand,  out  of 
219 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

fear,  she  has  to  be  constantly  compromising 
with  her  domestic;  on  the  other,  she  is  com- 
pelled to  do  with  her  own  hands  all  work  requir- 
ing any  care  or  skill. 

Add  to  this  the  reflection  from  which  they 
can  hardly  be  free — a  reflection  from  which, 
during  my  own  wakeful  nights  to  the  end  of  my 
stay  in  Korsakoffsk,  I  was  never  able  to  escape 
— that  by  a  conspiracy  between  the  domestics 
and  the  othep  murderers  outside,  this  handful  of 
families  might  at  any  moment  be  helplessly 
overwhelmed  in  conflagration  and  massacre, 
and  I  think  it  will  be  seen  that  even  in  summer 
the  lot  of  these  offlcials  and  their  families  is 
hardly  an  enviable  one. 

The  sufferings  of  exiles,  and  especially  those 
inflicted  upon  them,  have  been  made  familiar 
to  all  the  world.  So  numerous  have  been  the 
allegations,  that  the  mere  number  of  them 
seems  overwhelming  evidence  of  their  undoubt- 
ed truth. 

In  view  of  the  situation  I  have  just  de- 
scribed, it  needs  little  argument  to  show,  what 
the  facts  fully  corroborate,  that  any  official  who 
should  habitually  inflict  needless  cruelties  upon 
the  convict  murderers  by  whom  he  is  sur- 
rounded in  Korsakoffsk,  would  quickly  find  his 
own  life  to  be  in  such  peril,  that  his  official 
functions  would  be  impracticable. 
220 


Life  of  the  Officials 

The  Sakhalin  official  who  would  dare  to 
be  officially  inhuman,  must  be  officially  mad. 
That,  nevertheless,  some  officials  have  been  of 
that  sort  everybody  is  aware;  but  that  some 
officials  have  been  assassinated  in  consequence  is 
not  so  well  known,  except  to  those  it  concerns. 

Though  the  power  of  the  Governor  in  Sak- 
halin is  and  must  be  nearly  absolute,  the  exer- 
cise of  it  turns,  after  all,  on  a  moral  pivot. 

I  have  known  of  several  instances  in  which 
officials  who  have  abused  that  power  have  been 
promptly  stripped  of  it,  and  been  made  to 
change  places  with  their  victims. 

Under  the  powers  given,  and  necessarily 
given,  to  officials  in  such  isolated  places  as 
Korsakofifsk,  I  admit  that  there  is  no  cruelty 
of  which  any  one  of  them  has  ever  been  ac- 
cused but  might  be  possible. 

Therefore  I  would  not  venture  to  dispute 
any  one  of  the  multitude  of  accusations  with 
which  books  of  travellers  and  novelists  abound. 
When  I  was  spending  a  week  at  the  Devonshire 
home  of  my  friend,  the  late  Lord  Chief  Justice 
Coleridge,  he  once  remarked  to  me:  "Yes,  I 
can  imagine  conditions  in  which  somebody 
shouM  have  absolute  power,  but  I  doubt  if  there 
is  one  man  in  a  hundred  thousand  who  could 
be  safely  trusted  with  it."  In  a  semi-barbarous 
country  this  remark  is  particularly  applicable.  I 
221 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  myself  seen  severity  and  what  I  thought 
cruelty  by  officers  in  Sakhalin,  but  it  was  cer- 
tainly not  premeditated.  In  each  case  the  cru- 
elty consisted  of  a  blow  from  momentary  irri- 
tation, and,  what  is  important  to  note,  in  each 
case  it  was  given  by  an  officer  whose  popularity 
and  habitual  generosity  made  the  act  possible 
without  endangering  his  own  safety.  I  have 
often  noticed,  even  in  the  chain-gangs,  that  any 
amount  of  severity  would  be  submitted  to  with 
patience  and  with  respect  so  long  as  it  did  not 
seem  to  be  unjust.  On  more  than  one  occa- 
sion, on  the  contrary,  I  have  seen  a  warder 
turn  pale  with  apprehension  after  he  had  been 
provoked  to  a  momentary  excess. 

When,  therefore,  I  read  or  hear  of  an  in- 
stance of  horrible  cruelty,  I  always  inquire  who 
did  it,  whether  the  narrator  saw  it  done,  and 
what  were  the  circumstances  which  led  up  to  it. 
An  exile,  a  convict,  a  murderer,  might  be  quite 
capable  of  a  truthful  statement  respecting  the 
wrongs  done  to  himself  or  his  fellows;  but 
stories  retailed  by  foreign  authors  may  some- 
times be  inaccurate  in  the  form  in  which  they 
reach  the  American  or  English  reader. 

Undoubtedly,  the  custody  of  those  who  have 
no  rights  may  tend  to  the  development  of  the 
more  brutal  elements.  The  vocation  of  the 
jailer,  like  that  of  the  soldier,  is  Hkely  to  make 

222 


Life  of  the  Officials 

him  either  a  worse  man  or  a  better  man.  That 
depends  upon  what  sort  of  a  man  he  was  at  the 
beginning. 

The  prison  officials  of  every  grade  most  dis- 
tinguished for  their  efficiency  are  the  men  who 
regard  their  work  as  a  vocation,  and  of  these  I 
have  met  not  many. 


223 


CHAPTER    XIII 

BAPTISM    OF   EXILE   CHILDREN THE    BLESSING 

OF    THE    WATERS 

Although  I  had  often  seen  baptism  per- 
formed in  various  parts  of  Siberia  as  well  as 
of  western  Russia,  I  had  never  seen  all  of  the 
rites  belonging  to  complete  induction  into  the 
Church  in  such  order  as  to  enable  me  to  com- 
prehend fully  their  relation  to  each  other. 

I  had  happened  to  remark  this  to  my  friend 
the  priest,  and  was  therefore  not  a  little  pleased 
on  a  certain  Sunday  morning  to  get  a  note  from 
him  asking  me  to  remain  in  the  church  after 
the  usual  morning  service,  as  there  were  to  be 
some  ceremonies  which  he  thought  might  in- 
terest me. 

After  the  main  body  of  the  congrega- 
tion had  left,  I  observed  a  curious  and  interest- 
ing group  assembling  in  the  lobby.  The  cen- 
tre of  this  group  was  formed  by  five  or  six 
women  with  pillows  in  their  arms;  on  each 
pillow  was  a  very  small  babe.  Each  of  these 
women  was  attended  by  another  woman  with  a 
224 


Baptism  of  Exile  Children 

little  basket,  the  appearance  and  contents  of 
which  were  such  as  are  famiHar  to  Russian 
monthly  nurses.  The  neatness  and  comparative 
elegance  of  these  little  accessions  were  really 
touching  and  almost  pathetic  to  me,  knowing, 
as  I  did,  the  slender  resources  of  the  poor 
mothers  and  the  tender  affection  and  maternal 
pride  the  little  knots  of  ribbon  adorning  the 
"  things  "  signified.  The  rest  of  the  group  con- 
sisted, not  of  relatives  (for  in  Sakhalin  outside 
of  the  possible  family  relatives  do  not  exist),  but 
of  friends  who  were  present  as  sponsors. 

I  found  that  the  infants  were  in  various 
stages  of  induction,  and  that  each  stage  would 
be  represented,  so  that  by  the  kind  arrangement 
of  the  priest  I  shoujd  now  see  the  whole  proc- 
ess on  this  single  occasion. 

First  were  presented  the  infants  that  had  not 
yet  been  made  catechumens.  These  candidates 
having  been  gathered  together  by  the  deacon, 
the  priest  approached  them,  stripped  them  of  all 
clothing  except  a  single  garment,  placed  them 
facing  the  east,  breathed  three  times  in  their 
faces,  signed  them  with  the  cross  on  foreheads 
and  breasts,  and,  laying  his  hands  on  their  heads, 
recited  a  prayer  or  invocation. 

This  was  followed  by  four  acts  of  exorcism. 
In  the  first  act  was  a  prayer,  or  rather  an  impre- 
cation, which  was  very  long,  and  began,  "  The 
X7  225 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Lord  forbiddeth  thee,  O  Devil,"  etc.,  and  end- 
ing with,  "  Get  thee  away  and  depart  from  the 
sealed  newly  elected  soldier  of  our  God.  Get 
thee  away  and  depart  from  this  creature  with 
all  thy  might  and  angels." 

After  three  other  exorcising  imprecations  of 
similar  import,  the  priest  again  breathed  on  the 
mouths,  foreheads,  and  breasts  of  the  candidates, 
and  said:  ''  Drive  from  him  every  evil  and  un- 
clean spirit  hiding  and  lurking  in  his  heart." 

Here  followed  the  ritual  for  renunciation. 
In  this  the  babies  were  again  stripped.  They 
were  then  turned  towards  the  west,  when  the 
priest  with  uplifted  hands  said,  ''  Dost  thou  re- 
nounce Satan  and  all  his  works  and  all  his 
angels  and  all  his  service  and  all  his  pomp?  " 
This,  with  the  "  I  renounce  "  by  the  sponsors, 
was  repeated  many  times.  The  priest:  "Then 
blow  upon  him  and  spit  upon  him,"  which  the 
sponsors  did  vigorously.  The  priest,  now  turn- 
ing the  infant  towards  the  east,  said,  "  Dost  thou 
join  Christ?  "  This,  with  the  answer  "  I  join," 
was  repeated  many  times  by  the  sponsors.  The 
priest:  "  Dost  thou  believe  in  him? "  The 
sponsors:  "  I  beHeve  in  him  as  King  and  God." 
All  present  now  united  in  the  Athanasian  creed, 
according  exactly  to  the  English  version. 

After  many  more  repetitions  of  the  question 
and  of  the  answer  to  it,  "  I  have  joined,"  came 
226 


Baptism  of  Exile  Children 

the  obeisance  and  adoration.  The  priest  said, 
"  Bow  thyself  also  unto  him."  As  the  sponsors 
complied,  they  said,  "  I  bow  myself  to  the 
Father  and  to  the  Son  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
to  the  consubstantial  and  undivided  Trinity." 
The  priest  then  recited  a  final  prayer,  and  thus 
was  completed  the  process  of  exorcism,  renun- 
ciation, and  illumination. 

As  these  and  two  other  infants  were  then 
presented  and  ranged  about  the  font  for  bap- 
tism, the  sacristan  came  forward  in  a  very  busi- 
ness-like way  and  poured  into  the  font  several 
buckets  of  warm  water.  When  he  had  satisfied 
himself  that  this  was  of  the  right  temperature, 
further  preparation  for  the  rite  of  baptism  was 
made  by  anointing. 

The  sponsors  and  friends  being  all  supplied 
with  lighted  tapers  and  ranged  round  the  font 
in  proper  order,  the  priest  approached  in  white 
garments,  censed  round  about  the  altar,  recited 
several  prayers,  and  ended  by  saying  three 
times,  "  Do  thou  thyself,  therefore,  O  man-lov- 
ing King,  be  present  now  also  through  the  de- 
scent of  thy  Holy  Ghost,  and  sanctify  this  water 
and  give  it  the  grace  of  redemption,"  etc. 

He  then  three  times  signed  the  water  with 

the  cross,  and  recited  a  long  prayer,  that  any 

demon  or  evil  spirit  lurking  in  the  water  might 

be  crushed  and  expelled,  etc.    He  now  breathed 

227 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

three  times  upon  a  cruse  of  oil,  signed  over 
it  three  times  with  the  cross,  and  after  a 
prayer  made  three  crosses  upon  the  water  with 
the  oil. 

The  anointing  of  the  infant  with  oil  was 
performed  thus:  With  a  small  camel's-hair  pencil 
dipped  in  the  oil  the  priest  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross  on  the  forehead,  breast,  and  between  the 

shoulders,  and  said,  ''  The  servant  of  God, , 

is  anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness  in  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  now  and  ever  and  to  ages  of  ages. 
Amen." 

Then,  with  appropriate  words  pertaining  to 
the  eyes,  ears,  hands,  feet,  and  other  parts,  he 
used  the  pencil  in  the  same  manner  on  the  re- 
spective parts,  and  thus  ended  the  process  of 
anointing  with  holy  oil. 

The  rite  of  baptism  consisted  in  the  priest, 
who  faced  the  east,  taking  the  child  by  the  knees 
with  one  hand,  covering  its  face  with  the  other, 
and  adroitly  passing  the  infant  three  times  under 
the  surface  of  the  water,  saying,  ''  The  servant 

of  God,  ,  is  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 

Father,  amen;  and  of  the  Son,  amen;  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  amen.  Now  and  ever  to  ages  of 
ages.    Amen.'' 

I  must  confess  that  the  adroitness  and  skilful 
rapidity  with  which  this  was  done,  as  well  as  the 
228 


Baptism  of  Exile  Children 

absence  of  egoism  in  the  formula  used,  seemed 
to  me  most  admirable. 

Next  came  the  investiture.  As  fast  as  the  in- 
fants were  dried,  white  chemises  were  handed 
from  the  baskets,  and  as  the  priest  clothed  each 
one,  he  said,  ''  The  servant  of  God,  ,  is  in- 
vested with  the  robe  of  righteousness  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,"  etc.  After  several  prayers 
were  recited  came  the  anointing  with  holy  myrrh. 
This  was  an  exact  repetition  of  the  process  al- 
ready described,  only  that  myrrh  was  substituted 
for  oil,  the  priest  saying  in  addition,  "  The  seal 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.    Amen." 

The  circumambulation  was  now  performed. 
In  this  the  priest  headed  a  procession  of  all  con- 
cerned, marching  round  and  round  the  font, 
singing  three  times,  "  As  many  as  have  been 
baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ.  Alle- 
luiah." 

Prayers  were  now  recited  for  "  Our  most 
pious,  autocratic,  great  Lord  the  Emperor," 
and  other  members  of  the  royal  family  by  name, 
for  the  ''most  Holy  Governing  Synod,"  and 
for  the  **  newly  illuminated  servants  of  God  " 
(by  name)  just  regenerated. 

Two  of  the  infants,  which  had  remained  in 
the  background,  because  they  had  been  submit- 
ted to  these  rites  eight  days  ago,  were  now  pre- 
sented for  the  further  and  next  to  the  last  rite 
229 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

of  induction,  which  is  ablution.  In  the  perform- 
ance of  this  the  priest  loosened  his  own  girdle 
and  garment  and  recited  a  number  of  prayers. 
He  then  loosened  the  girdle  and  garment  of  each 
of  .the  infants,  joined  the  ends  of  each  garment 
and  girdle,  soaked  them  with  water,  with  which 
he  sprinkled  the  child,  and  said,  "  Thou  art  jus- 
tified, thou  art  illuminated,  thou  art  sanctified, 
thou  art  washed  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God." 

Taking  a  new  sponge  dipped  in  water,  he 
now  wiped  the  fa^e,  the  head,  and  breast  and 
other  parts  of  the  infant,  saying,  "  Thou  art  bap- 
tized; thou  art  illuminated;  thou  art  anointed 
with  myrrh;  thou  art  sanctified;  thou  art  washed, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen." 

This  was  immediately  followed  by  the  last 
induction  rite  of  all,  viz.,  tonsure  of  the  hair. 
This  process  consisted  in  a  long  preliminary 
prayer,  which  first  recited  the  value  and  impor- 
tance of  the  divine  gift  of  the  hair  of  the  head, 
and  then  proceeded  that  of  this,  "  The  servant 

of  God,  ,  is  now  come  to  make  his  first 

offering,"  etc. 

Other  prayers  followed,  and  the  priest  said, 

"  Bow  your  heads  to  the  Lord."     This  being 

done  and  other  prayers  said,  the  priest  pinched 

up  two  Httle  scraps  of  what  hair  he  could  find 

230 


Baptism  of  Exile  Children 

on  the  top  of  the  head,  and  with  scissors  chpped 
them  in  two  directions  crosswise,  saying,  *'  The 

servant  of  God, ,  is  shorn  in  the  name  of  the 

Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Amen." 

Finally,  a  prayer  was  offered  in  which  the 
name  of  the  Emperor,  of  the  sponsor,  and  of 
the  newly  illuminated  were  recited  together. 

The  actual  receiving  into  the  Church  of  the 
baptized  was  a  very  short  procedure,  each  of 
them  being  brought  into  the  middle  of  the 
church,  and  then  to  the  gates  of  the  temple,  the 
priest  taking  a  child  in  his  arms  and  tracing 
with  it  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  front  of  the  gates, 

saying,  "  The  servant  of  God,  ,  is  received 

into  the  Church  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Amen."  He 
then  carried  the  boys  through  the  gates  before 
the  holy  altar,  but  the  girls  he  brought  only  as 
far  as  the  royal  gates,  but  not  through  them. 

He  then  deposited  each  in  succession  on  the 
dais  in  front  of  the  gates,  whence  the  sponsors, 
bowing  three  times,  took  them  up.  The  cus- 
tomary dismissal  was  then  given,  and  all  de- 
parted. 

As  I  had  never  met  a  foreigner  who  had 

seen  these  various  ceremonies  in  their  order  and 

entirely,  I  have  related,  as  briefly  as  I  could, 

their  leading  features  as  I  witnessed  them.     To 

231 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

see  them  all,  and  in  their  proper  order  of  suc- 
cession, on  a  single  occasion  was  an  opportunity 
of  very  rare  occurrence,  and  only  came  about 
by  the  special  arrangements  of  my  kind  friend 
the  priest,  who  is  an  exceptional  enthusiast  in 
his  calling. 

Throughout  the  proceedings,  though  my 
mind  was  on  the  ritual,  my  heart  was  with  the 
poor  exiled  parents,  to  whom  this  ceremony 
was  full  of  real,  living,  and  perhaps  far-reaching 
significance. 

To  themselves  this  meant  that  the  sins  of  the 
father  were  lifted  from  the  child,  which  was  now 
made  not  only  an  orthodox  member  of  the 
Church  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, but  nominally  a  free  and  honourable  citizen 
of  Russia.  The  Czar,  whom  the  father  thought 
of  only  as  his  great  devil,  was  thenceforward  to 
this  free  child  the  "  Great  Father,  Lord  and 
King." 

As  has  already  happened  in  Australia,  so 
here,  in  the  coming  years,  these  free  native  chil- 
dren will  have  the  distinction  of  being  the  found- 
ers of  the  very  first  and  oldest  families  of  Sak- 
halin. 

If  anywhere  a  national  church  be  expedient, 

conspicuously  would  it  have  an  excuse  for  being 

in  such  a  widespread  and  ignorant  country  as 

Russia.     The  common  single  source  of  the  oil 

232 


Baptism  of  Exile  Children 

and  myrrh  for  prince,  noble,  and  moujik  alike 
'  throughout  the  Empire;  the  adroit  linking  to- 
gether in  the  same  prayer  at  the  font  the  name 
of  the  Czar  with  those  of  the  newly  baptized  in- 
fant and  of  the  sponsor;  these  in  conjunction  with 
impressive  symbols  and  utterances  amid  which 
the  names  of  ''  Our  great  Lord  the  Czar  "  and 
that  of  the  supreme  object  of  worship  are  apt  to 
get  confused — all  these  things,  I  say,  with  the 
many  symbols  and  ways  tending  to  amalgamate 
the-  state  and  the  church,  seem  admirably 
adapted  in  such  a  crude  state  of  civiUzation  to 
promote  amity  and  reverent  patriotism  in  the 
unwieldy  and  superstitious  masses,  for  the  con- 
trol of  which  the  Government  can  desire  noth- 
ing better  than  the  impression  that  religion  and 
patriotism  are  synonymous  and  inseparable. 

In  the  case  of  these  unfortunates  it  must  be 
felt  that  these  ceremonies,  with  their  sacred  as- 
sociations, can  hardly  fail  to  brighten  their  lot, 
helping  some  of  them  to  the  highest  aspirations 
of  which  they  are  capable. 

The  Blessing  of  the  Public  Well 

One  week-day  afternoon  I  observed  an  un- 
usual number  of  people  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
church,  from  which  there  shortly  issued  a  pro- 
cession having  much  the  appearance  of  those 
seen  especially  about  Easter  time  in  the  country 
233 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

towns  and  villages  of  Italy.  I  followed  it  along 
a  very  circuitous  route  until  it  arrived  at  the- 
open  space  around  the  public  well  in  common 
use  by  the  families  of  the  free  convict  part  of 
the  settlement,  where  I  found  was  to  be  per- 
formed the  annual  ceremony  of  "  the  blessing 
of  the  waters." 

In  front  of  the  well  was  placed  a  brocade- 
covered  table,  with  the  usual  altar  accessories, 
and  in  the  centre  a  silver-plated  tureen. 

The  procession,  as  it  arrived,  formed  in  front 
of  the  table  in  a  semicircle,  backed  up  by  the 
village  women,  by  everybody  else  whose  time 
was  of  no  value,  and  by  five  or  six  inquisitive 
pigs,  which  now  and  then  insisted  on  breaking 
through  to  the  front  and  impertinently  joining 
the  chants  in  the  wrong  key. 

With  two  trees  of  unusual  size  forming  the 
background  to  the  altar,  the  scene,  as  the  can- 
dles and  tapers  were  lighted  in  the  full  daylight, 
was  as  humanly  picturesque  as  anything  I  had 
encountered  in  these  latitudes. 

The  priest  having  signed  the  mouth  of  the 
well  with  the  cross  and  the  censer  three  times, 
and  said  various  prayers,  the  tureen  on  the  table 
was  filled  with  water  from  the  well,  and  this 
again  treated  in  a  similar  manner. 

Many  long  prayers,  most  of  which  were  to 
the  Virgin,  were  then  recited,  asking  that  all  the 
234 


Blessing  of  the  Public  Well 

waters  of  the  settlement  might  be  under  her 
special  protection,  etc.,  and,  of  course,  to  these 
prayers  were  added  others  for  the  Emperor, 
Empress,  and  all  the  royal  family. 

The  priest,  raising  the  tureen  in  the  air, 
made  with  it  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  blessed 
it.  Using  other  parts  of  the  liturgy  meanwhile, 
he  then  kissed  the  cross.  The  worshippers  there- 
upon approached  and  did  the  same,  and  as  they 
came  forward  for  this  purpose,  the  priest,  with 
the  aspergillus,  or  little  brush,  sprinkled  them  all 
with  the  now  sanctified  water. 

After  other  prayers  and  the  usual  dismissal, 
the  water  which  remained  in  the  tureen  'was  dis- 
tributed among  the  worshippers,  every  one  of 
whom  tried  to  obtain  and  carry  away  a  little  of 
the  sacred  treasure,  either  in  a  little  vessel  or 
by  dipping  a  pocket-handkerchief  or  mantle 
in  it. 

The  procession  then  reformed,  returned  to 
the  church  and  dispersed. 


235 


CHAPTER    XIV 

PRIVATE  WALKS  AND  TALKS   IN   KORSAKOFFSK 

Besides  the  hospital  there  were  several 
spots  which  came  to  be  favourite  haunts  with 
me.  There  were  the  homes  of  the  Japanese 
consul,  the  priest,  my  merry  laundress,  the  cha- 
teau of  the  princes,  the  Rifle  Butts,  the  black- 
smith's shop,  or  the  walk  along  the  beach, 
where,  towards  evening,  I  would  be  sure  to 
come  across  one  or  more  of  the  better  class  of 
exiles. 

Under  the  Japanese  treaty  by  which  Sakha- 
lin was  ceded  to  Russia,  one  of  the  clauses  pro- 
vided for  a  Japanese  consulate  at  Korsakoffsk, 
whose  business  should  be  to  receive  and  trans- 
mit the  payment  to  be  made  annually  by  Russia 
for  a  certain  number  of  years,  and  to  supervise 
the  fishing  industry  the  Japanese  were  allowed 
to  maintain  along  the  southern  and  southwest- 
em  coast  for  a  corresponding  period,  under  con- 
ditions mutually  agreed  upon. 

Beyond  this,  and  looking  after  the  fishing 
crews  which  were  so  apt  to  get  wrecked  on  this 
236 


Walks  and  Talks  in  KorsakofFsk 

most  dangerous  coast,  the  duties  of  the  consul 
amounted  to  nothing,  and  as  he  had  a  very  com- 
petent assistant  to  help  him,  a  visit  from  a  friend 
formed  a  grateful  break  in  the  monotony  of  his 
existence. 

The  consul  was  a  cultured,  charming,  and 
most  hospitable  man,  but,  excepting  the  Gov- 
ernor and  myself,  I  never  knew  anybody  to  call 
at  his  house,  nor  did  I  ever  see  him  outside  of 
it.  Whether  this  be  attributable  to  the  Bud- 
dhistic training,  I  will  not  venture  to  guess,  but 
I  think  that  all  competent  judges  will  agree  that, 
while  there  are  few  peoples  more  gregarious 
and  social  than  the  Japanese,  there  is  none  more 
capable  of  cheerful  self-containment.  My  good 
friend,  who  was  such  an  excellent  instance  in 
point,  generously  allowed  me  to  practise  my 
doubtful  Japanese  upon  him,  and  in  all  ways  he 
was  a  better  friend  to  me  than  it  was  in  my 
power  to  be  to  him. 

There  was  a  merry  laundress,  one  of  the  only 
three  women  in  Korsakoffsk  in  whose  faces 
seemed  possible  any  expression  of  brightness, 
cheerfulness,  or  contentment.  Her  cottage, 
both  outside  and  inside,  was  as  bright  as  she 
was  herself,  and,  though  our  conversation  was 
never  learned  or  profound,  it  was  a  pleasure  to 
pass  a  few  minutes  in  exchanging  salutations 
with  her.  I  understand  that  she  had  volunta- 
237 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

rily  exiled  herself  to  join  her  husband,  who 
worked  in  the  prison.  Be  that  as  it  may,  a  more 
bright  and  contented  creature  could  hardly  be 
found  anywhere. 

A  favourite  stroll  which  I  frequently  took 
was  to  the  left  of  the  Japanese  consul's  house 
along  the  beach.  There,  under  a  precipitous 
and  overhanging  cliff  on  an  elevated  plateau 
projecting  almost  into  the  sea,  were  a  little 
house  and  water-mill,  as  picturesque  as  could 
be  designed.  This  house  had  been  built  and  till 
recently  had  been  occupied  by  the  two  princes 
of  whom  I  have  already  spoken.  From  the  top 
of  the  clif¥  ran  a  perpetual  stream  of  considerable 
volume — an  exact  counterpart  on  a  smaller  scale 
of  the  famous  water-fall  of  Geisbach  in  Switzer- 
land. The  princes  had  constructed  an  overshot 
water-wheel,  upon  which  this  stream  played, 
and  considerable  grist  was  brought  to  their 
mill  in  more  ways  than  one.  By  a  variety  of 
fantastic  ornamentation  of  the  house,  and  the 
rocky  plateau  in  front,  the  spot  had  quite  an 
ideal  appearance  as  an  exile  home.  On  account 
of  some  reckless  and  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
escape,  however,  the  princes  had  been  ordered 
back  to  the  prison,  where,  in  comfortable  but 
less  romantic  quarters,  I  had  the  interview  with 
one  of  them  which  I  have  elsewhere  described. 
At  the  time  of  my  visit  the  house  was  occupied 
238 


Walks  and  Talks  in   KorsakoiFsk 

by  another  exile,  who  had  none  of  their  culture 
and  taste,  and  who  seemed  to  have  very  little 
appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  his  situation. 

A  village  smithy  has  always  had  strong  at- 
tractions for  me.  The  blacksmith's  shop  at  Kor- 
sakofifsk,  however,  lacked  some  of  the  accus- 
tomed poetic  elements.  Apart  from  the  horse- 
shoeing, a  large  share  of  the  work  consisted  in 
the  repairing  of  fetters,  a  number  of  which  al- 
ways lay  scattered  about  the  floor.  The  merry 
whistle  which  in  western  countries  is  such  a 
usual  accompaniment  of  the  anvil  stroke  is  here 
unknown. 

My  favourite  pastime  was  joining  in  the 
practice  at  the  Rifle  Butts.  In  the  evening  a 
stroll  along  the  beach  to  the  right  frequently 
brought  me  across  an  exile  for  whom  I  felt  a 
good  deal  of  respect  and  sympathy.  As  regu- 
larly as  if  he  were  a  Parsee  or  a  Mohammedan, 
this  man  was  to  be  found  there  watching  the 
setting  of  the  sun  from  the  best  point  of  view  on 
the  sands.  He  was  a  very  large  and  really 
magnificent  looking  man,  with  a  superb  head. 
His  face,  kind  though  sad,  had  a  manner  in 
which  dignity  and  gentleness  were  charmingly 
combined.  This  superb,  gentle  man  had  for- 
merly for  a  long  time  held  a  most  distinguished 
position  in  the  artistic  world  of  St.  Petersburg. 

As  he  nightly  paced  that  lonely  beach,  cap  in 
239 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

hand,  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun  falling  full  on 
his  solitary  figure,  the  sight  was  to  my  mind  par- 
ticularly picturesque.  Not  only  did  he  suffer 
intense  remorse  for  the  murder  he  had  com- 
mitted, but  he  was  haunted  with  the  idea  that 
everybody  knew  of  his  crime.  By  nature  very 
sensitive,  he  had  become  so  shy,  that,  though 
he  was  delighted  to  meet  somebody  who  was 
neither  a  convict  nor  an  official,  it  was  only  by 
the  most  delicate  approaches  that  I  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  his  confidence. 

His  crime  had  been  wholly  unpremeditated, 
but  had  been  committed  so  publicly  that  there 
had  been  no  discretionary  power  that  the  court 
could  exercise  short  of  exile.  Further,  such 
was  his  popularity,  that  if  he  had  been  sent  only 
to  continental  Siberia,  his  friends  would  cer- 
tainly have  contrived  his  escape;  so  he  was  de- 
ported direct  to  Sakhalin. 

The  consideration  he  received  from  all  the 
officials  was  so  great  and  uniform  that  he  was 
practically  free,  and  was  allowed  to  use  his  pri- 
vate resources  sufficiently  to  live  in  comfort. 

Further  remarks  on  this  interesting  friend  I 
will  reserve  for  my  observations  on  the  remorse 
of  murderers. 

The  priest's  house  was  a  favourite  resort  of 
mine  also.  This  was  partly  from  my  special 
fondness  for  him,  partly  because  of  his  anxiety 
240 


Walks  and  Talks  in   KorsakofFsk 

to  become  acquainted  with  the  paralleUsms  in 
the  EngHsh  and  Greek  liturgies;  also  because 
of  the  pleasure  he  took  in  giving  me  information 
on  the  many  points  in  the  exile  and  social  Hfe 
with  which  he  had  a  more  intimate  acquaintance 
than  any  other  person  in  Korsakoffsk. 

His  house  was  large,  rambling,  bare,  and 
barn-like,  and  wholly  destitute  of  what  might  be 
called  comfort.  Excepting  his  eldest  daughter, 
the  pretty  and  favourite  Eugenie,  the  family,  for 
reasons  domestic,  were  rarely  to  be  seen  except 
on  festive  occasions.  Our  interviews  were  al- 
ways in  what  the  priest  euphemistically  called 
his  ''  study."  This  was  a  little  corner  room,  in 
which  there  were  three  old  chairs,  a  kitchen- 
table  on  which  he  was  usually  writing  ofificial 
reports,  and  a  very  simple  cot  bed,  on  which  he 
slept.  The  prison  cell  of  the  exile  prince  I  have 
mentioned  was  vastly  more  comfortable  by  com- 
parison. Whatever  may  be  said  about  extor- 
tionate priests,  the  good  Timoskenk  evidently 
did  not  belong  to  that  class.  Indeed,  in  view 
of  his  native  refinement  and  delicate  tastes,  his 
manifest  poverty  was  painful  to  witness.  Never 
but  twice  did  I  see  him  in  the  street,  and,  if  he 
were  not  at  the  church,  I  was  always  sure  of  his 
being  at  home.  He  took  great  pleasure  in  com- 
paring his  local  observations  with  my  own  re- 
specting the  characters  of  especially  notorious 
^^  241 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

criminals.  Though  his  chief  interest  centred  in 
his  church,  he  was  wholly  free  from  the  mysteri- 
ousness  behind  which  priests  less  competent 
than  himself  are  so  apt  habitually  to  shelter 
themselves  and  their  ignorance. 

He  professed  great  pride  and  satisfaction 
in  being  a  priest  in  what  for  many  reasons  he 
regarded  as  the  only  true  Church,  certainly  the 
most  ancient  Christian  Church,  and  one  the 
clearly  historic  continuity  of  which  is  almost 
without  parallel.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
he  regarded  as  a  dissenting  body,  the  English 
Church  as  a  new  schismatic  and  heretical  off- 
shoot of  the  dissenting  Romanists.  His  pover- 
ty he  was  not  ashamed  of;  on  the  contrary,  like 
some  bishops  and  other  priests  of  the  same 
Church  whom  I  have  known,  he  considered  that, 
whatever  the  professions  of  a  Christian  priest 
might  be,  it  was  an  imperative  duty  that  the 
manner  and  style  of  his  living  should,  as  nearly 
as  practicable,  be  Hke  that  of  his  divine  Master, 
not  a  contradiction  of  it,  that  thus  alone  could 
he  hope  to  succeed  in  impressing  the  hearts  of 
the  poor  with  the  Gospel  and  with  his  own  sin- 
cerity as  a  preacher,  and  that  for  the  sake  of  the 
poor  he  must  not  be,  or  appear  to  be,  above 
them  in  these  respects,  but  as  one  of  them,  that 
they  might  feel  as  much  at  home  with  him  as 
children  feel  with  a  true  "  papa  "  or  father. 
242 


Walks  and  Talks  in  KorsakofFsk 

"  Living  as  they  see  me  live,"  he  said,  "  my 
people  do  not  doubt  that  our  experiences  are  in 
common.  That  when  I  say  to  them,  '  Blessed 
are  the  poor,'  my  words  are  not  ironical;  that 
in  all  things  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  they 
and  myself  are  in  real  sympathy.  It  is  in  this," 
he  concluded,  '*  that  lies,  I  think,  the  human 
secret  of  spiritual  influence  and  success,  espe- 
cially that  of  a  priest  with  his  people." 

There  was  nothing  in  this  which  surprised 
me,  for  I  had  been  forced  to  infer  from  the  very 
beginning  of  my  acquaintance  with  him  that 
these  were  his  controlling  sentiments. 

The  beautiful  character  of  this  man  and  the 
privilege  of  his  friendship  I  have  never  ceased 
to  look  back  upon  with  warm  appreciation  and 
with  gratitude. 

In  keeping  with  the  habitual  informality  of 
what  we  will  call  Korsakofifsk  society,  my  host- 
ess said  to  me,  one  morning  about  noon,  in  her 
excellent  English,  "  Misterr  Howardt,  dinner 
we  will  perhaps  not  haf  zis  day;  I  zink  we  will 
go  to  ze  house  off  ze  priest." 

Thither,  about  two  o'clock,  madame,  the 
Governor,  and  myself  accordingly  went.  On 
entering  the  large,  bare,  and  barn-like  reception- 
room,  where  the  whole  colony  was  already  as- 
sembled, we  were  received,  not  by  the  priest, 
nor  by  his  wife,  but  by  a  little  fellow  about  five 
243 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

years  old,  who  was  gorgeously  bedecked  for  the 
occasion,  and  whom,  I  found,  everybody  was 
expected  to  kiss  on  arriving.  This  Httle  fellow 
was  the  only  son  of  the  priest,  and  this  his 
"  name  day,"  which  we  were  assembled  to  cele- 
brate, he  being  the  nominal  host,  we  his  guests. 

Besides  the  other  children,  including  the 
pretty  and  popular  Eugenie  I  have  already  men- 
tioned, this  house  was  the  home  of  the  most 
popular  baby,  called  the  "  baby-organ." 

With  the  exception  of  the  Governor's  piano, 
it  was  the  only  musical  (?)  instrument  in  the  set- 
tlement. It  was  about  the  size  of  a  sewing  ma- 
chine, hence  portable.  Wherever  and  whenever 
there  was  a  party,  there  went  the  barrel  organ. 
For  dancing  it  was  indispensable. 

This  ugly  little  creature  was  a  home-made 
product,  the  proud  achievement  of  a  convict 
carpenter  in  the  prison.  Its  repertoire  was  very 
limited,  and  the  few  airs  it  yielded  were  deter- 
mined by  perforated  slips  of  brown  paper  put 
in  its  inside.  When  the  creaky  wooden  handle 
was  turned,  it  stirred  up  rats,  cats,  and  puppies. 

To  stimulate  conversation  and  beguile  the 
few  minutes  of  customary  delay,  Eugenie  good- 
naturedly  began  the  usual  performance  on  this 
miniature  menagerie,  but  fortunately  had  only 
made  a  few  turns  when  came  the  glad  announce- 
ment of  dinner. 

244 


Walks  and  Talks  in  Korsakoffsk 

We  had  a  tight  fit  of  it  at  the  table,  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  placed  little  Ivan  Alexan- 
drovitch,  who,  poor  Uttle  fellow!  seemed  some- 
what dazed  and  bewildered  by  the  proceedings. 
The  good  priest  said  grace,  everybody  made 
the  significant  and  convenient  cross  sign,  and 
then,  all  standing,  we  drank  in  vodka  the  health 
of  little  Ivan. 

After  hors  d'oeuvres  innumerable,  soup  and 
the  inevitable  fish  and  potato  pie,  we  began  our 
dinner.  When  the  time  came  another  toast  was 
drunk  to  Ivan,  and  such  of  the  gentlemen  as 
felt  able  went  away  to  their  respective  duties. 
The  ladies  remained  to  drink  tea,  smoke,  and 
kiss  and  re-kiss  the  patient  little  host,  to  gossip, 
of  course,  and  to  further  enjoy  the  music  which 
was  ground  out  by  the  children. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  festival 
was  now  at  an  end.  In  the  celebration  of  a 
'*  name  day,"  which  is  also  a  celebration  in  hom- 
age of  the  patron  saint  of  the  host  or  hostess  of 
the  occasion,  the  guests  are  all  literally  boarders 
in  the  house  for  the  whole  of  that  day.  About 
six  or  seten  o'clock  all  the  guests  who  had  left 
after  dinner  came  back  again,  and,  as  some'  of 
them  had  taken  but  little  to  eat  since  four 
o'clock  that  afternoon,  the  seven  o'clock  dinner 
was  entered  upon  with  considerable  zest. 

By  about  eleven  o'clock  the  tide  of  hilarity 
245 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

rose  nearly  to  its  highest  water  (?)  mark,  and  as 
neither  the  priest  nor  myself  danced,  we  ad- 
journed to  his  "  study  "  for  a  private  smoke. 

Although  the  keeping  of  a  name  day  is  a 
religious  as  well  as  a  social  event,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  even  in  the  house  of  the  priest  the  re- 
ligious part  of  it  was  at  all  conspicuous.  As 
every  member  of  a  family,  however  large,  has  a 
name  day  every  year,  the  frequency  of  the  festi- 
val must  kindle  a  great  many  associations  to  off- 
set the  rough  discomforts  and  monotony  of 
every-day  life. 


246 


CHAPTER    XV 

THE   HOSPITAL 

The  hospital  of  Korsakoffsk  is  a  fairly  good 
building.  On  the  left  of  the  main  entrance  are 
the  female  wards;  to  its  right,  the  outdoor 
medical  department  and  pharmacy;  and  from 
this  at  right  angles  extends  a  long  right  wing, 
divided  into  several  male  wards.  Other  wards 
and  some  outbuildings  form  the  left  wing,  which 
runs  along  the  ridge  of  a  precipitous  hill,  while 
a  log  palisade  in  the  rear  completes  the  quad- 
rangle area  the  hospital  occupies.  The  male 
wards,  which  would  accommodate  about  sixty 
patients,  generally  contained  about  thirty-five. 
The  female  wards,  with  capacity  for  about  twen- 
ty, generally  contained  about  ten. 

Some  of  these  wards  were  single,  for  ob- 
stetric and  operative  cases,  and  others  had  but 
four  beds  each.  The  situation  of  the  building 
was  perfect.  The  condition  of  the  wards,  from  a 
Russian  standpoint,  would  be  regarded  as  deci- 
dedly clean,  but  the  latrines  were  execrable,  be- 
247 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ing  fully  up  to  the  odorous  standard  so  dear  to 
these  people. 

Each  cot  had  its  card  for  temperature  and 
pulse  registrations,  and  the  general  conduct  of 
affairs  corresponded  to  European  methods. 

The  male  wards  had  male  nurses,  the  female 
had  female  nurses,  all  convicts,  previously  un- 
trained, and  therefore  by  no  means  models  in 
their  accidental  vocation.  The  hospital  stew- 
ard, however,  I  have  rarely  seen  surpassed  for 
general  efficiency  in  any  army  hospital  any- 
where. 

The  post  surgeon.  Dr.  A ,  visited  all  the 

indoor  patients  twice  a  day,  and  attended  in  the 
outdoor  department  during  the  morning. 

In  the  front  hall  were  always  posted  two 
soldiers;  but  beyond  that,  and  the  iron  bars  out- 
side the  numerous  windows,  there  was  nothing 
to  suggest  penal  conditions. 

The  pharmacy  was  well  stocked  in  quantity, 
but,  fortunately  perhaps,  the  variety  of  the  sup- 
plies was  not  enough  to  tempt  an  enthusiastic 
experimenter.  Within  the  regulation  list  the 
quantities  were  without  limit.  The  diet  supplied 
was  according  to  the  doctor's  daily  requisition 
list  in  each  case,  and  in  the  ordering  of  this  he 
was  under  no  arbitrary  restrictions. 

The  diseases  of  which  I  saw  the  most  in  the 
hospital  were  bronchitis,  rheumatism,  and  pneu- 
248 


The  Hospital 


monia,  much  as  would  be  found  in  any  hospital 
in  a  northern  latitude,  and  I  saw  also  some  cases 
of  malaria.  These  patients  were  chiefly  in  the 
outdoor  department,  and  had  been  working  on 
virgin  land  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  sur- 
gical patients  were,  naturally,  few. 

Dr.  A told  me  that  he  had  not  the  exact 

statistics  to  give  me,  but  from  all  he  knew,  he 
thought  that  the  death-rate  of  the  entire  island 
was  pro  rata  as  low  as  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
and  that  there  was  no  single  disease  which  he 
could  designate  as  endemic,  or  particularly 
prevalent. 

I  had  suspected  that  I  might  unearth  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  cases  of  raving  madness. 
But  there  is  not  a  single  lunatic  asylum  on  the 
entire  island.  All  through  Siberia  special  pro- 
vision for  the  insane  is  quite  neglected.  As  the 
insane  of  Korsakoffsk  were,  therefore,  inmates 
of  the  hospital,  I  unavoidably  saw  all  there  were 
without  trouble.  Among  these  few  there  was 
no  violent  patient.  There  were  two  epileptics 
of  feeble  intellect,  and  also  two  patients  more  or 
less  imbecile,  who  had  been  in  the  hospital  con- 
tinuously for  several  years  in  the  absence  of 
other  provision  for  them.  Except  these,  there 
were  no  patients  of  this  class.  It  was  in  this 
hospital  that  I  followed  up  the  treatment  of  the 
murderer  whom  I  saw  receive  a  hundred  lashes 
249 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

with  the  knout.  It  was  also  m  one  of  the  fe- 
male wards  that  occurred  my  first  encounter 
with  an  aboriginal  Aino — an  incident  which  led 
to  the  experience  recounted  in  my  book  on  Life 
with  Trans-Siberian  Savages. 

While,  on  the  one  hand,  Dr.  A pro- 
fessed that  the  hospital  was  greatly  indebted  to 
me,  I,  on  the  other  hand,  declared  that  I  was 
much  more  indebted  to  it,  there  being  no  other 
spot  on  the  island  where  I  could  so  well  and 
deeply  have  studied  the  pathology  of  the  exile 
system  as  here,  whither  came  everything  which 
most  deeply  testified  against  it.  On  the  slight- 
est excuse  every  exile  and  convict  claims  his 
right  of  seeing  the  doctor,  and  it  is  impossible, 
therefore,  for  any  cruelty  or  abuse  of  any  kind 
whatsoever  to  continue  long  in  operation  with- 
out some  evidence  of  it  coming  under  the  eye 
of  the  physician. 

Every  wound,  however  slight,  whether  from 
flogging,  blows,  manacles,  or  accident;  every  ill- 
ness or  physical  deterioration,  whether  from 
actual  disease,  bad  or  insuf^cient  diet,  malaria, 
insanitary  conditions,  or  obscene  habits,  all  come 
under  his  observation.  It  is  upon  him,  too,  that 
falls  the  unpleasant  duty  of  detecting  and  ^cir- 
cumventing the  ingenious  artfulness  of  the 
many  malingerers. 

Thus  the  doctor  has  his  finger  literally  on 
250 


The  Hospital 


the  pulse  of  the  physical  and  moral  life  of  the 
whole  settlement  all  the  time. 

It  would  be  too  flattering  to  say  that  this 
hospital  was  my  observatory.  It  was  my  clinical 
and  pathological  laboratory.  Every  morning 
all  the  prisoners  who  claimed  exemption  from 
work  on  account  of  physical  disabiUty  were 
marched  down  to  the  outdoor  department. 
This  squad  usually  included  some  of  the  most 
incorrigible,  the  most  depraved,  and  also  the 
cleverest  of  the  prisoners,  men  who  by  long 
study  and  practice  had  become  thoroughly  ac- 
complished in  the  arts  of  the  malingerer.  The 
aim  of  these  men  was  to  practise  on  the  doctor, 
and  to  take  care  that  he  did  not  practise  on 
them. 

One  of  these  men  was  for  several  weeks  led 
to  the  hospital  every  other  day,  bent  as  nearly 
double  as  a  half-shut  clasp-knife,  gasping, 
groaning,  or  shrieking  almost  incessantly.  His 
disease,  as  marked  on  his  ticket,  was  lumbago, 
the  symptoms  of  which  he  knew  to  perfection. 
As  in  this  disease  the  symptoms  are  wholly  sub- 
jective, Dr.  A ,  though  he  could  discover 

no  other  proof  of  its  existence,  had  taken  the 
patient's  word,  and  had  properly  ordered 
warmth,  rest,  and  special  diet — exactly  what 
the  rascal  wanted.  Having  had  a  good  deal  of 
experience  with  new  recruits  and  with  soldiers 
251 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

on  the  eve  of  battle,  I  perceived  in  this  man  what 
to  my  mind  was  a  ground  for  suspicion.  At  my 
instigation,  the  doctor  arranged  for  a  close 
watch  upon  his  movements,  informing  the  pa- 
tient at  the  same  time  that,  unless  his  disease 
took  a  favourable  turn  within  a  day  or  two,  he 
should  have  to  apply  two  large  blisters  to  the 
affected  part. 

The  second  night  thereafter,  during  the  ex- 
citement of  a  game  of  cards,  the  watchers  no- 
ticed that  the  patient  quite  forgot  the  lumbago 
part  of  his  role,  and  that  his  movements  became 
as  alert  as  possible.  The  next  morning,  when 
he  appeared  at  the  hospital  rather  worse  than 
usual,  the  doctor  confronted  him  with  the  proofs 
of  his  malingering.  Without  a  murmur  he  went 
straight  back  to  his  work. 

There  was  one  healthy  prisoner  there,  who 
was  naturally  cadaverous  looking,  and  knew 
how  much  his  appearance  favoured  his  game. 
I  have  several  times  heard  the  stage  cough  of 
the  famous  Rachel  when  she  was  in  the  later 
stage  of  phthisis,  but  the  cough  of  this  man 
beat  it.  It  sounded  like  a  veritable  reverbera- 
tion from  the  tomb. 

As  I  passed  through  the  waiting-room  I 
noticed  the  guard  in  attendance  looking  almost 
in  terror  at  several  little  pools  of  blood  this  pa- 
tient had  unavoidably  expectorated  on  the  floor 
252 


The  Hospital 


right  in  front  of  the  startled  soldier.  Indeed, 
so  moved  was  the  guard  at  the  sight  that,  in 
simple  compassion,  he  came  forward  to  ask  the 
doctor  if  he  might  not  take  the  patient  at  once 
into  one  of  the  regular  wards  for  permanent 
treatment.  Both  Dr.  A and  myself  ex- 
amined this  patient's  chest  and,  rather  to  our 
surprise,  found  his  lungs  as  strong  as  a  black- 
smith's bellows,  and  his  heart  perfect. 

Considerably  perplexed,  it  occurred  to  one 
of  us  then  to  examine  carefully  his  throat  and 
mouth.  Here  we  found  a  back  gum  looking 
like  a  ploughed  field.  I  happened  to  notice, 
too,  that  the  dirt  under  this  patient's  forefinger- 
nail  was  more  red  than  black.  These  two  things 
put  together  proved  to  be  a  complete  explana- 
tion of  the  startling  haemoptysis  which  this  sick- 
ly looking  but  really  healthy  man  was  in  the 
habit  of  producing  at  a  minute's  notice  on  suit- 
able occasions. 

In  nearly  every  case  this  kind  of  applicant 
for  the  hospital,  called  the  "  prisoner's  paradise," 
would  be  one  who  was  the  wearer  of  chains  as 
special  punishment  for  attempted  escape  or 
other  crimes. 

Here  is  another  instance.     Very  early  one 

morning  Dr.  A was  hurried  out  of  bed  to 

attend  a  prisoner  who  on  his  way  to  quarry  and 

road'work  had  fallen  down  in  a  fit.     This  man 

253 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

was  so  utterly  unmanageable  that,  in  addition  to 
leg-chains,  which  are  an  exceptional  penalty,  a 
long  chain  ran  from  his  waist  to  the  wheel-bar- 
row which  he  used,  to  increase  the  difficulty  of 
the  escape  he  always  seemed  to  be  contempla- 
ting. 

On    arriving    at    the    hospital.    Dr.    A 

found  that  this  patient  had  already  been  re- 
leased from  his  manacles  and  was  installed  in  a 
separate  ward,  but  still  continued  in  violent 
convulsions.  He  had  no  suspicions  in  this  case, 
for,  in  addition  to  ordinary  spasmodic  convul- 
sions, there  were  the  bitten  tongue  and  the  foam- 
ing at  the  mouth,  the  absence  of  which  so  often 

betray  the  amateurs.    I  suggested  to  Dr.  A 

an  emetic  under  another  name,  and  he  gave  it. 
Among  other  things  this  brought  to  light  was 
a  substance  which  never  enters  into  the  prison- 
ers' diet,  but  which,  concealed  in  the  cheek,  will 
produce  excellent  foaming.  It  was  a  piece  of 
soap.  The  foaming,  and  the  bitten  tongue, 
were  known  to  this  clever  fellow  as  the  accept- 
ed signs  of  true  epilepsy.  The  surprise  and  con- 
fusion of  the  artful  but  outwitted  patient  at  this 
revelation  in  the  unexpected  resurrection  of 
what  he  had  inadvertently  swallowed  was  serio- 
comic in  the  extreme.     Dr.  A ,  who  always 

seemed  to  look  upon  his  patients  rather  as  un- 
fortunate children,  did  not  for  a  moment  up- 
254 


The  Hospital 


braid  or  accuse  this  man  who  had  so  cleverly 
practised  on  him,  but  simply  held  up  this  piece 
of  soap  on  a  skewer,  and  gave  the  rascal  a  for- 
giving but  significant  smile.  The  chop-fallen 
malingerer  became  quite  impatient  to  get  away 
from  the  scene  of  his  almost  successful  exploit. 

Self-mutilation  I  have  heard  of,  but  I  was 
unable  to  find  an  instance  of  it  in  Sakhalin.  A 
pretty  effective  check  upon  this  is  the  knowl- 
edge every  prisoner  has  that  after  a  period, 
which,  if  he  likes,  he  can  make  a  short  one,  any 
disability  thus  caused  will  be  a  substantial  and 
permanent  disadvantage  to  himself  by  crippling 
his  ability  for  independent  self-maintenance. 
Such  mutilations  as  have  occurred,  I  was  told, 
were  not  of  the  right  forefinger,  as  I  have  seen 
so  often  in  the  army,  but  of  the  right  thumb, 
chiefly  to  destroy  competence  for  handling  any 
labour  implement. 

The  illustrative  cases  of  malingering  I  have 
given  may  be  taken  as  specimens  of  a  great  va- 
riety of  practices  which  are  a  constant  perplexity 
to  the  prison  surgeon,  who,  while  wishing  on  the 
one  hand  perhaps  to  be  just  to  the  prisoners,  is 
on  the  other  hand  compelled  to  do  his  duty  to 
the  Administration  which  employs  him. 

It  is  not  only  the  art  of  the  malingerer 
against  which  the  doctor  has  to  be  on  the  alert. 
The  former  medical  officer  had  an  experience 
255 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

which  he  told  me  had  caused  him  a  good  deal  of 
perplexity  and  anxiety.  A  disease  broke  out  in 
the  prison  to  which  he  found  it  very  difficult  to 
give  either  a  name  or  a  place  on  the  printed 
forms  of  the  weekly  medical  report.  One  pris- 
oner after  another  had  begun  to  complain,  until 
within  two  days  about  twenty  of  them  were  suf- 
fering acutely,  while  three  or  four  of  them  later 
on  came  near  dying.  The  doctor  was  struck  by 
the  fact  that  each  of  the  cases  was  from  the  same 
kamera,  and  that  no  similar  symptoms  had  ap- 
peared in  any  other  parts  of  the  prison.  Still 
more  was  he  impressed  with  the  fact  that  one 
prisoner,  and  only  one,  in  the  kamera  concerned 
remained  completely  well. 

The  pretty  little  flower  of  the  Aconitum 
Napellus  grows  in  great  profusion  in  Sakhalin, 
where  I  have  seen  patches  of  it  as  thick  as  but- 
tercups or  daisies  are  in  some  other  countries. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  aconite  is  not  only 
a  most  deadly  poison,  but  that  its  presence 
in  the  human  body  is  almost  beyond  the  range 
of  detection  even  by  an  expert  toxicologist,  as 
was  shown  a  few  years  ago  in  a  famous  trial  of 
which  a  small  slab  in  the  murderers'  row  in 
Wardsworth  prison  is  now  the  principal  monu- 
ment. 

The  healthy  prisoner,  it  seems,  had  suspect- 
ed some  of  his  mates  of  conspiring  to  cheat  him 
256 


The  Hospital 


in  their  usual  card-play.  Being  acquainted  with 
the  nature  of  this  plant,  which  was  found  in  pro- 
fusion in  the  vicinity  where  he  worked,  he  se- 
cured sufBcient  for  his  purpose,  and  with  this 
managed  to  adulterate  the  soup  of  his  particular 
squad. 

I  was  told  that,  as  one  after  another  com- 
plained of  thirst  and  griping,  he  won  their  grati- 
tude by  heating  over  again  for  them  the  unused 
portion  of  soup  in  the  bottom  of  the  kettle, 
and  being  conspicuously  kind  and  attentive  in 
administering  the  remainder  for  their  relief. 
This  was  but  one  of  the  many  incidents  in  which 
I  found  that  prisoners  often  had  more  to  fear 
from  each  other  than  from  the  officers  in  imme- 
diate charge  of  them. 

Respecting  the  indoor  patients,  they  had, 
ironically  speaking,  great  *'  staying  power." 
Literally  they  were  very  defective  in  recupera- 
tive force.  In  the  latter  respect  their  condition 
closely  resembled  what  I  have  observed  among 
patients  who  are  prisoners  of  war,  with  whom 
any  serious  disease  is  sure  to  be  more  fatal  than 
with  soldiers  of  the  conquering  army  in  the 
same  hospital. 

For  this  low  state  of  vital  resiliency  or  tone 
there  were  many  causes,  one  or  more  predomi- 
nating in  different  individuals,  but  in  all  cases 
it  might  be  best  summed  up  perhaps  in  the  word 
x9  257 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

apathy.  It  is  not  a  difficult  matter  for  almost 
any  serious  disease  to  prove  fatal,  where  the  pa- 
tient sees  no  reasons  why  he  should  wish  to  re- 
cover. 

Another  cause  of  illness  prevalent  here,  as 
among  prisoners  everywhere,  and  one  which  is 
everywhere  beyond  external  control,  is  unnatu- 
ral vice,  especially  in  the  solitary  form.  Against 
the  latter  the  best-conducted  European  or 
American  prisons  on  the  separate  system  have 
no  remedy.  The  congregate  or  herding  system 
practised  throughout  Siberia,  however,  is  said 
to  be  more  woefully  prolific  of  unnatural  mutual 
vices,  practised  with  gross  shamelessness. 


258 


CHAPTER    XVI 

THE    PHYSIOGNOMY    OF    MURDERERS REMORSE 

I  HAVE  profound  respect  for  the  skill  of  my 
friends  Professor  Benedict,  of  Vienna  Univer- 
sity, and  Professor  Lombroso,  of  Turin,  in  their 
studies  of  the  craniology  and  physiognomy  of 
murderers  and  other  criminals.  When  sufficient 
data  shall  have  been  correctly  classified,  the 
value  of  their  conclusions  will  turn  on  the  pre- 
cision with  which  criminal  peculiarities  may  be 
perceived  before  conviction,  and  upon  the  de- 
gree to  which  the  instructors  of  youth  especial- 
ly may  thus  become  able  to  discriminate  the  er- 
ratic tendencies  of  the  individual  pupil,  and  to 
correct  them  by  training. 

In  the  midst  of  such  boundless  material  as 
I  had  in  Korsakoffsk,  I  was  anxious  to  make 
craniological  measurements,  and  thus  to  add  to 
the  data  already  possessed,  but  I  found  that  the 
objections  to  it  were  so  great  as  to  be  insur- 
mountable. To  read  Russian  physiognomy 
with  probable  accuracy,  I  am  convinced  that  the 
expert  himself  should  be  a  Russian.  The  re- 
259 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

trousse  or  pug  nose,  the  high  cheek-bones,  small, 
piggish  eyes,  large  mouth,  heavy  lower  jaw, 
large  projecting  ears,  and  receding  forehead, 
are  features  which  are  common  to  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  lower  classes  in  Russia, 
whether  criminal  or  virtuous.  Criminologists 
generally  agree  as  to  the  predominance  of  dark 
hair  in  murderers.  Among  the  Korsakofifsk 
murderers  dark  hair  was  quite  an  exception. 
To  a  foreigner  there  would  at  first  seem  to  be 
great  similarity  of  feature;  to  one  closer  ac- 
quainted, however,  the  expressions  were  as 
varied  and  as  significant  as  would  be  found 
among  the  same  class  in  other  countries. 

The  "  mark  of  Cain,"  which  everybody  is 
so  clever  at  perceiving  in  the  countenance  of 
every  murderer  after  his  conviction,  my  experi- 
ence taught  me  to  regard  as  something  of  a  fal- 
lacy. Among  convicts  sent  to  Sakhalin  for  a 
single  murder,  I  found  many  examples  of  excep- 
tionally fine  features,  thoroughly  good  expres- 
sion, faces  without  a  sign  but  such  as  would 
commend  the  individuals  to  the  liking  and  con- 
fidence of  strangers. 

Among  those  whom  I  ascertained  to  have 
been  guilty  of  more  than  one  murder,  and  es- 
pecially among  men  who  had  been  little  short 
of  habitual  or  professional  assassins,  I  certainly 
found  that  contrary  conditions  prevailed.  After 
260 


The  Physiognomy  of  Murderers 

very  numerous  comparisons  I  was  still  unable 
to  discover  any  single  *'  mark  "  which  the  pub- 
lic so  easily  perceive  in  convicted  murderers. 
The  more  common  expression  among  these 
multiple  assassins  was  one  of  dull,  general  an- 
tagonism. I  think  that  an  average  person 
might  be  confronted  with  several  groups  of 
these  men,  and,  if  he  knew  nothing  of  them,  he 
would  hardly  venture  to  pick  out  one  as  being 
constitutionally  a  murderer. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  he  were  an  expert,  it 
would  be  easy  for  him  to  perceive  in  a  large  pro- 
portion a  sign  or  signs  of  some  one  dominant 
passion  or  weakness.  In  by  far  the  larger  num- 
ber of  instances,  certainly,  this  predominant  ex- 
pression was  that  of  greed.  In  some  cases  this 
would  be  united  with  one  of  fearless  daring  not 
altogether  unattractive.  The  murders  commit- 
ted by  these  men  had  oftenest  been  incident  to 
highway  robbery  or  burglary.  In  the  larger 
number  of  the  cases  in  which  the  crime  of  mur- 
der had  been  incident  to  stealing,  however,  I 
was  rather  surprised  to  find  how  commonly  this 
primary  expression  of  greed  was,  as  with  wild 
animals,  combined  with  one  of  positive  timidity. 

These  men  were  generally  of  poor  physique, 
undersized,  pale  of  complexion,  having  a  man- 
ner and  appearance  which  in  the  fox  and  the 
wolf  are  called  shyness,  but  which,  when  seen 
261 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

in  a  man,   secure   for  him   the  appellation   of 
"  sneak." 

After  prolonged  observation  of  these  unfor- 
tunately constructed  individuals,  I  became 
aware  that  I  had  been  unconsciously  classing 
the  lower  types  of  them  according  to  the  spe- 
cies of  animals  they  respectively  suggested,  the 
nature  of  which  seemed  to  survive  prominently 
in  their  expression. 

Attractive-looking  Murderers 

In  the  administration  of  the  many  and  di- 
verse departments  of  the  penal  colony  of  Sakha- 
lin it  may  be  inferred  that  the  number  of  subor- 
dinate clerks  and  other  office  employees  must 
be  a  large  one.  Accordingly  all  these  posts  are 
filled  by  selections  made  from  the  exiles  and 
convicts  themselves.  Many  of  these  posts  have 
to  be  confidential,  and  carry  with  them  consid- 
erable responsibility.  The  selections  for  them 
have  to  be  made  with  even  more  care  than 
would  be  necessary  in  ordinary  life. 

Whenever  I  strolled  into  the  offices  of  the 
savings  bank,  or  the  agricultural  department, 
it  was  with  a  very  lively  though  not  visible 
interest  that  I  scanned  the  faces  of  the  many 
clerks  at  their  desks,  and  of  the  messengers  and 
other  persons  employed. 

Besides  special  rations  and  money  grants, 
262 


The  Physiognomy  of  Murderers 

another  privilege,  and  the  one  most  prized  by 
these  persons  perhaps,  was  that  of  dressing  in 
any  way  they  Hked  best. 

Among  the  many  mercantile  establishments 
in  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  with  which  I  am 
familiar,  I  remember  very  few  in  which  the  em- 
ployees presented  a  better  appearance  in  any 
way  than  the  clerks  in  Korsakoffsk.  In  appar- 
ent intelligence,  morality,  smartness  of  manner, 
they  were  about  up  to  the  average;  in  certain 
compulsory  virtues  they  were  altogether  supe- 
rior. I  was  assured  that  for  the  most  part  they 
had  fully  justified  their  selection. 

What  struck  me  most,  and  what  may  be 
equally  surprising  to  others,  was  that  some  of 
the  best  of  these  men  had  committed  the  mur- 
ders which  were  the  most  notoriously  frightful. 
The  artist  I  have  mentioned;  the  hospital  stew- 
ard of  whom  I  have  spoken  so  highly;  the  Gov- 
ernor's coachman,  for  instance,  appeared  to  be 
admirable  men,  yet,  curiously  enough,  each  of 
these  belonged  in  this  category. 

The  principal  cause  of  their  crimes,  I  found, 
had  been  jealousy,  sudden  rage,  intoxication, 
revenge,  or  some  other  passing  passion.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  palliate  the  heinousness  of 
their  crimes,  but  it  was  most  manifest  that 
these  murderers  were  not  entirely  the  all-round, 
through  and  through  corrupt  individuals  who, 
263 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

according    to    the    popular    imagination,    must 
necessarily  be  and  are  unfit  to  live. 

From  a  close  personal  acquaintance  I  am 
convinced  that  many  of  these  men  would  have 
scorned  the  thought  of  the  commercial  frauds 
by  which  some  respectable  men  I  know  have 
obtained  position  and  influence.  In  some  of 
the  cases  the  crime  was  the  outcome  of  circum- 
stances and  coincidences  as  unlikely  to  recur  as 
is  a  thunderbolt  to  strike  a  second  time  just  in 
the  same  spot.  While  moving  daily  among 
these  men,  I  think,  it  never  once  occurred  to  me 
to  regret  that  any  one  of  them  had  not  been 
hanged. 

The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

From  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind, 
the  remorse  from  murder  is  so  distinctive,  so 
intense,  so  inevitable,  that,  even  though  the 
crime  be  undiscovered,  there  is  no  escape  from 
the  punishment. 

This  is  one  of  the  common  beliefs  of  man- 
kind, and  for  a  long  time  I  accepted  it  as  true 
in  all  cases.  But  let  the  reader  reflect  on  the 
origin  of  this  belief  in  himself,  and  he  will  find 
himself  turning  to  books — to  books  of  a  class 
not  one  of  which  pretends  to  be  scientific. 

In  other  countries  the  statements  of  murder- 
ers are  liable  to  be  warped  by  many  considera- 
264 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

tions;  in  Sakhalin  there  is  no  such  word  as  hope. 
Let  the  confession  be  what  it  may,  there  is 
nothing  left  to  fear:  Sakhalin  is  the  place  of  the 
dead;  the  world  has  long  become  but  a  distant 
recollection.  The  state  of  the  individual  is  un- 
alterably fixed;  there  are  no  motives.  There  is 
nothing  to  warp  the  testimony  of  the  lost  about 
themselves.  My  visits  might  be  as  private  as 
I  chose  and  as  long  as  I  chose.  They  might 
be  made  at  night  as  well  as  by  day,  in  company 
or  alone,  and  in  absolute  confidence. 

Writing  to  a  friend  at  this  time,  I  said:  "  I 
feel  that  this  is  Inferno;  I  am  Dante,  and  that 
my  investigations  might  be  called  '  Studies  in 
Hell.^  " 

I  began  with  the  objective  symptoms  as  they 
might  be  reve_aled  when  the  individuals  were  in 
bed  at  night,  and  entirely  off  their  guard.  For 
this  kind  of  observation  my  intimate  relation- 
ship with  the  hospital  was  of  indispensable  serv- 
ice to  me.  In  these  observations  I  found  that 
the  more  degraded  of  the  criminals,  those  who 
had  committed  the  larger  number  of  crimes,  the 
habitual,  the  constitutional  murderers,  slept  just 
as  well  as  innocent  people  would  sleep.  It  was 
the  same  with  their  eating  and  drinking — life 
with  them  being  as  nearly  as  possible  simply 
an  animal  existence. 

Those  who  had  committed  but  one  murder 
265 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

were,  on  the  contrary,  very  apt  to  be  vic- 
tims of  insomnia,  in  proportion  to  their  higher 
state  of  culture. 

All  such  were  at  all  times  what  we  call 
"  light  sleepers."  On  going  to  bed  they  would 
drop  ofif  into  a  sleep  as  readily  as  others,  but 
they  would  be  easily  awakened  out  of  it,  the 
early  waking  being  almost  always  accompanied 
by  a  start.  The  superficial  character  of  their 
sleep  would  be  apparent  by  restlessness,  tossing, 
moaning,  perhaps  talking;  their  own  talking 
would  itself  sometimes  wake  them.  A  common 
time  for  waking  was  about  two,  still  more  so 
about  three  o'clock.  It  interested  me  very 
much  to  note  the  comparative  uniformity  in  the 
time  of  the  first  definite  waking  in  each  case. 
Clocks  and  watches  were  very  few  in  Korsa- 
koflfsk,  but  if  a  watch  had  run  down  it  might 
have  been  set  by  the  waking  of  any  one  of  these 
patients.  About  five  they  would  fall  asleep 
again  perhaps,  but  at  the  getting-up  time  would 
rise  comparatively  unrefreshed. 

These  same  persons  were  generally  light 
eaters  also,  and  had  a  pulse  which  was  both 
small  and  weak.  In  contrast  to  the  dogged 
apathy  so  prevalent,  the  individuals  of  whom  I 
am  now  speaking  appeared  to  be  painfully  sen- 
sitive, and  their  manner  was  distressingly  shy. 
There  was  a  very  cultivated  man  in  the  hos- 
266 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

pital,  for  a  sprained  ankle,  who  had  been  sent  to 
the  island  for  forgery.  Incident  to  this  forgery 
had  occurred  a  mysterious  death  in  which  this 
man  was  supposed  to  have  been  concerned,  but, 
as  the  evidence  was  insufficient  on  this  point,  he 
was  neither  convicted  nor  tried  on  that  charge. 
With  the  consideration  so  frequently  extended 
to  the  more  refined  and  educated  prisoners,  the 
doctor  had  given  this  man  a  two-bed  ward  to 
himself.  On  one  of  my  watch-nights  the  night- 
nurse  was  awakened  from  a  light  doze  by  a  mut- 
tering dream  of  this  man.  The  attendant  was 
watching  him  in  the  uncertain  glimmering  lamp- 
light. Evidently  still  asleep,  but  with  eyes  wide 
open,  this  patient  sprang  up  in  his  bed  and, 
with  his  hands  clasped,  talked  to  an  imaginary 
papa  or  priest,  unburdening  his  mind  as  if  in 
confession.  Curiously  enough,  while  admitting 
that  it  was  he  alone  who  had  committed  the 
murder,  his  principal  concern  seemed  to  be  to 
correct  a  false  impression  which  had  prevailed 
on  an  important  detail  as  to  the  hour  at  which  it 
was  done.  With  a  deep  moan,  as  if  exhausted, 
he  then  fell  back  on  his  pillow.  The  attendant 
kept  as  still  as  death,  fearing  that  the  poor 
wretch  might  fully  awaken,  discover  his  pres- 
ence, and  suspect  his  having  heard  his  words. 
His  confession  was  so  detailed  and  circumstan- 
tial that  it  certainly  might  have  supplied  all  the 
267 


Prisoner's  of  Russia 

points  in  the  evidence  which  had  been  wanting 
against  him. 

The  soundest  sleeper  in  the  entire  hos- 
pital was  the  obtuse,  hardened,  and  incorrigible 
thief  whose  flogging  for  a  local  murder  I  have 
elsewhere  described.  My  cHnical  notes  of  this 
kind  would  of  themselves  fill  a  small  volume. 
I  am  compelled  to  restrict  myself  in  these 
pages  chiefly  to  the  conclusions  I  drew  from 
them. 

Putting  together  the  facts  I  obtained  from 
criminals  themselves  with  those  received  at  sec- 
ond-hand from  the  priest,  and  from  other  offlcials 
closely  associated  with  the  prisoners,  my  impres- 
sion was  that  in  the  case  of  the  lower  type  of 
these  murderers  very  few  of  their  earlier  crimes 
would  have  been  committed  at  all,  but  for  the 
notion  of  the  criminal  that  he  would  probably 
escape  detection,  and  still  more  probably  con- 
viction and  punishment. 

The  criminals  of  this  type  all  suffered  more 
or  less  acutely,  but  this  was  from  the  subsequent 
incessant  nervous  apprehension  about  possible 
detection  and  arrest.  After  the  arrest  there  had 
been  suffering  of  a  milder  type,  this  being  con- 
cerning the  impending  trial  and  sentence,  but 
after  the  sentence  had  come,  first,  a  comparative 
relief  due  to  the  change  from  uncertainty  to  cer- 
tainty, and  then  gradual  subsidence  into  apa- 
268 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

thetic  submission  to  the  daily  routine  of  prison 
regulations. 

I  also  concluded  that  there  was  in  all  this 
no  sense  of  acquiescence  as  to  deserts  or  the 
justice  of  the  punishment,  that  such  little 
thought  or  feeling  as  continued  resolved  itself 
into  chagrin  at  the  mistake  and  mismanagement 
in  not  securing  immunity.  For  a  short  time, 
too,  there  had  been  a  resentment  towards  those 
in  immediate  charge  over  them.  But  from  first 
to  last  a  feeling  of  sorrow  for  the  individual 
murdered,  a  sense  of  sin  in  the  crime,  of  peni- 
tence for  it,  the  feeling  of  remorse  as  we  com- 
monly understand  it,  is  to  many  of  them  quite 
unknown. 

With  men  of  this  low  type,  between  the 
thing  wanted  and  the  impulse  to  seize  it,  moral 
restraint  is  almost  an  unknown  quantity.  As 
with  beasts  of  prey,  the  only  obstacle  is  fear. 
With  such  men  death  is  but  little  dreaded,  but 
in  the  presence  of  prospect  of  physical  suffering 
they  are  invariably  great  cowards.  No  better 
instance  of  this  could  be  seen  than  is  invariably 
witnessed  in  the  knout-flogging  cases.  As  I 
came  to  have  more  and  more  experience  with 
these  people,  the  less  did  I  think  that  moral  ob- 
tuseness  was  confined  exclusively  to  those  of  the 
greatest  mental  dulness.  Among  the  very  few 
exceptions  to  the  stupid  faces  of  female  con- 
269 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

viets,  for  example,  was  the  woman  who  at  the 
time  of  my  pleasant  chat  with  her  in  her  own 
house  had  just  thrown  the  fragments  of  her 
paramour  to  the  wolves  in  the  adjoining  forest. 
It  is  difficult  to  associate  the  idea  of  compunc- 
tion with  such  quickness,  brightness,  and  vi- 
vacity as  she  displayed  directly  after  this  crime. 

Take,  again,  "  la  belle  femme.'*  I  admit 
that  she  had  no  more  cultivation  than  the  aver- 
age woman  in  the  Caucasian  mountains  whence 
she  came,  yet  for  natural  quickness  and  hilarity 
she  was  said  to  be  without  an  equal  in  Sakhalin*. 
In  her  jealous  caprices,  however,  she  was  sim- 
ply a  tigress,  and  thought  that  an  additional 
murder  rather  added  to  her  prestige  and  fasci- 
nation, and  I  think  it  did.  The  Shakespearian 
"  damned  spots "  on  her  hands  no  more 
troubled  the  vision  of  this  woman  than  they 
would  trouble  that  of  a  French  editor  or  states- 
man after  killing  his  antagonist  in  a  duel.  For 
pure  recklessness  and  wantonness  in  killing, 
these  women  surpassed  any  men  I  ever  saw  or 
heard  of.  Apart  from  natural  reasons  pertaining 
to  sex,  it  seemed  to  me  that  this  resulted  in  part 
from  the  imperiousness  of  their  inordinate  van- 
ity and  sensuous  love  of  power,  and  in  part  from 
their  consciousness  of  the  immunity  granted  to 
them  on  account  of  their  sex  alone. 

I  come  now  to  the  murderers  whom  I  knew 
270 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

very  well  in  Korsakoffsk.  They  were  of  a  total- 
ly different  and  higher  type.  Among  them  were 
two  bona  fide  princes  of  culture,  and  the  distin- 
guished artist  who  had  moved  in  very  high  cir- 
cles in  Russia,  and  of  each  I  retain  interesting 
souvenirs.  There  were  also  several  others  who 
held  subordinate  offices  in  or  about  the  various 
bureaus  of  the  Administration. 

Each  of  the  men  I  have  in  mind  had  com- 
mitted but  a  single  murder,  and  each  murder 
had  been  committed  almost  before  the  criminal 
knew  it.  Nobody  was  more  astonished  by  the 
crime  than  the  murderer  himself.  As  I  have  al- 
ready remarked,  the  crimes  in  these  cases  were 
the  outcome  of  a  sudden  access  of  jealousy,  of 
rage,  of  revenge.  In  two  other  cases  they  were 
due  to  intoxication.  I  ascertained  that  imme- 
diately after  the  crime  some  of  these  murderers 
had  been  as  if  stunned,  lost  in  confusion  and 
almost  apathetic  in  their  sense  of  helplessness. 
Others  had  been  seized  with  a  frenzy  of  fright, 
and  had  become  frantic  in  their  grief  over  the 
person  murdered.  The  dread  of  detection  and 
arrest,  the  idea  of  escape  had  not  been  at  all 
uppermost,  and  such  efforts  as  had  been  made 
to  this  end,  had  been  so  confused  and  bungling 
as  to  increase  the  evidence  against  them.  Their 
arrest  had  given  them  a  positive  sense  of  relief. 
During  their  formal  trial  their  sense  of  humili- 
271 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ation  and  shame,  which  was  uppermost,  robbed 
them  of  any  possible  ingenuity  in  their  plan  of 
defence,  and  they  were  not  painfully  anxious 
about  the  exact  nature  of  the  impending  verdict. 

After  the  verdict,  when  the  excitement  of 
the  legal  procedures  was  passed,  and  they  had 
settled  down  to  their  doom  and  fixed  condition, 
a  new  and  more  regular  form  of  insomnia  set 
in.  The  sin  in  their  crime  bit  back  excruciating- 
ly in  these  post-midnight  waking  hours.  The 
days  they  could  stand,  but  the  nights  they  dread- 
ed. The  hard-labour  part  of  their  sentence, 
which  in  most  of  these  cases  was  not  strictly  car- 
ried out,  though  irksome,  was  regarded  as  the 
most  merciful  part  of  their  lot.  It  afforded  dis- 
traction by  day  and  procured  sleep,  which 
bridged  over  the  racking  tortures  of  the  night. 
In  some  cases  grief  over  the  death  of  their  vic- 
tim was  the  acutest  element  in  their  night 
agony. 

In  consequence  of  this  mental  suffering, 
most  of  these  persons  looked  from  five  to  ten 
or  even  fifteen  years  older  than  they  really  were. 

In  ordinary  life,  our  dead,  even  those  who 
have  been  part  of  ourselves,  cease,  after  a  few 
years,  to  be  always  in  our  minds.  So,  in  all 
cases,  the  victim  of  the  murder,  except  on  rare 
and  startling  occasions,  is  gradually  forgotten 
by  the  murderer,  and  the  fang  of  remorse  is 
272 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

worn  down.  The  sense  of  shame  and  humilia- 
tion, however,  persists,  and  this  engenders  a 
peculiar  manner  which  becomes  a  second  nature 
in  such  persons.  A  boisterous  manner  I  never 
saw  in  one  of  them.  If  it  ever  naturally  existed, 
it  became  after  the  murder  wholly  subdued. 
They  talk  little  except  to  themselves,  which 
they  do  very  frequently  when  they  think  them- 
selves beyond  observation.  During  their  soli- 
tary walks  the  motions  of  their  lips  are  common- 
ly visible  at  a  distance.  This  muttering  to  them- 
selves when  they  think  themselves  unobserved 
is  frequently  interspersed  with  violent  ejacula- 
tions and  gesticulations.  Whenever  they  do 
speak  to  another  person,  the  voice  is  raised  only 
just  enough  to  be  heard.  I  am  not  sure  that 
they  cannot  laugh,  but  I  never  saw  one  of  them 
laugh.  In  conversation  many  of  them  had  a 
smile,  which  was  very  courteous,  very  apolo- 
getic, very  pleasing;  but  the  smile  is  as  the 
shore-lapping  of  a  deep  quiet  sea  after  the  sub- 
sidence of  a  great  storm. 

Unlike  the  political  exile,  whose  conscience 
forces  him  to  make  his  conduct  and  manner  to- 
wards the  officials,  and  especially  the  subordi- 
nate ones,  a  perpetual  protest;  unlike  the  lower 
type  of  assassin  with  his  blind,  surly,  and  abject 
obedience,  the  type  of  murderer  of  which  I  am 
speaking  is  docile  to  warders,  self-respecting 
20  273 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  respectful,  and  belongs  to  the  class  which, 
as  officials  say,  ''  give  no  trouble."  For  this 
reason  they  are  generally  popular,  so  to  speak, 
with  the  subordinate  officials.  The  higher  offi- 
cials, who  are  very  quick  at  recognising  a  gen- 
tleman, and  are  sure  to  learn  their  history,  are 
apt  to  treat  them  with  leniency  at  first  and  a 
good  deal  of  consideration  afterward.  The 
artist,  the  princes,  the  hospital  steward  I  have 
mentioned,  also  various  clerks  in  the  depart- 
ments, and  others  within  certain  limitations, 
were  as  free  in  Korsakoffsk  as  if  they  had  never 
committed  any  crime  at  all.  The  manners  of 
the  murderers  of  this  type  are  best  illustrated 
by  those  of  some  monastics — subdued,  gentle, 
suave;  a  manifest  arriere  pensee  suggesting  the 
perpetual  consciousness  of  being  "  under  disci- 
pline." I  got  the  impression  that  after  the  re- 
morse had  more  or  less  died  away  the  shame  and 
humiliation  immediately  following  the  murder 
still  survived,  and  would  persist  perhaps  to  the 
end.  These  peculiarities  of  manner,  one  can 
easily  imagine,  might  have  been  observable  in 
King  David  after  his  murder  of  Uriah,  while 
qualifying  for  the  writing  of  his  best  penitential 

Psalms. 

« 

While  I  would  hardly  go  so  far  as  Thack- 
eray, who  speaks  of  remorse  as  the  least  active, 
the  most  easily  quenched  of  all  the  moral  senses, 
274 


The  Remorse  of  Murderers 

one  which  in  some  natures  is  naturally  dormant 
or  non-existent,  it  is  decidedly  my  impression 
that  the  popular  notion  and  teaching  respecting 
the  inevitable  and  special  remorse  of  murderers 
is  one  of  many  popular  errors.  My  extended 
observation  has  convinced  me  of  what  to  some 
may  seem  a  strange  fact,  that  the  remorse  of  a 
murderer  is  not  in  proportion  to  his  guilt,  but  is 
rather  the  measure  of  nis  greater  or  lesser  moral 
sensibility. 


275 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE   QUESTION    OF    REFORMATION 

I  THINK  I  never  met  with  a  jailer  anywhere 
who  was  an  ardent  believer  in  the  reformation 
of  criminals  of  any  kind.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
have  rarely  known  one  of  these  men  who  had 
made  any  personal  effort  to  test  the  soundness 
of  his  unbelief.  They  recognise  that  not  the 
crime  but  the  imprisonment  for  it  is  the  more 
difficult  obstacle  to  reformation  to  be  surmount- 
ed. The  greatest  sceptics  of  all  regarding  the 
reformation  of  prisoners  may  perhaps  be  found 
among  the  prisoners  themselves,  especially  in 
such  prisons  of  America  and  western  Europe 
as  have  a  resident  chaplain.  The  universal  dic- 
tum of  prisoners  respecting  each  other  in  their 
relation  to  the  chaplain  is,  that  the  best  of  them 
are  thought  the  worst,  and  the  worst  the  best, 
by  that  official..  In  Russian  prisons  there  is  no 
temptation  to  duplicity  of  this  nature,  however, 
for  in  not  one  of  them  throughout  the  Empire 
is  the  chaplain  an  official  of  a  penal  institution 
or  prison,  in  the  Anglican  sense. 
276 


The  Question  of  Reformation 

In  sad  contrast  to  more  civilized  countries 
Russia  makes  no  pretence  to  educate  prisoners, 
or  to  reform  them.  She  puts  no  positive  ob- 
stacle in  their  way  in  either  direction,  how- 
ever. 

On  the  contrary,  the  books  and  the  agents 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  of 
England  have  for  a  long  time  enjoyed  privileges 
throughout  the  Russian  dominions  not  accorded 
to  them  even  in  England  itself.  These  agents 
may  travel  and  take  or  send  their  books  free  of 
charge  to  the  most  distant  prison  in  Siberia,  and 
in  these  prisons  the  agents  are  encouraged  and 
helped  by  the  officials  in  the  distribution  to  the 
prisoners  of  the  Society's  publications.  Sakha- 
lin, however,  may  be  said  to  be  beyond  the 
sphere  of  these  influences. 

Voluntary  schools  for  the  children  of  exiles 
and  prisoners,  some  of  them  of  a  high  order,  are 
also  allowed  and  encouraged  in  most  of  the 
principal  towns  of  Siberia.  The  office  of  school- 
master for  prisoners,  and  of  chaplain  for  prison- 
ers exclusively,  however,  has  never  been  insti- 
tuted. The  Government  generally  arranges  that 
an  orthodox  priest  shall  be  within  reach  of  pris- 
oners as  of  others,  but  within  the  prison  walls 
no  clergyman  has  distinctive  official  position  or 
responsibility. 

Although  I  believe  that  the  separate  and 
^77 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

silent  prison  system,  such  as  prevails  in  Europe 
and  America,  would  be  the  most  intolerable  of 
all  forms  of  continuous  punishment  to  the  aver- 
age Russian  criminal,  I  am  obliged  to  admit 
that  the  herding  system  as  practised  in  Sakhalin 
and  throughout  Siberia,  during  the  imprison- 
ment period  of  exile,  is  so  thoroughly  demoral- 
izing that  even  the  strongest  characters  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  survive  it  without 
damage. 

To  mitigate  or  counteract  this  condition  of 
things  the  Administration  does  absolutely  noth- 
ing, the  morals  of  the  prisoners  being  under- 
stood to  be  entirely  beyond  its  sphere. 

I  asked  my  good  friend  the  priest,  whose 
house  is  but  a  few  yards  from  the  prison,  how 
many  times  in  each  week  he  made  regular  visits 
to  the  prisoners  in  it.  In  view  of  his  exception- 
al devotion  to  his  ordinary  clerical  duties,  and  of 
his  sweetly  sympathetic  character,  I  was  sur- 
prised and  not  a  little  shocked  when  he  told  me 
that  he  never  entered  the  prison  except  when 
he  was  sent  for  by  a  prisoner.  In  such  a  case, 
however,  he  was  very  glad  to  do  whatever  lay  in 
his  power. 

"  Are  any  of  the  prisoners  ever  allowed  to 
come  from  the  prison  to  the  Korsakoffsk 
church?  " 

"  Never." 

278 


The  Question  of  Reformation 

"  Is  any  sort  of  reading  matter  supplied 
within  the  prison?  " 

"  Alas !  have  you  seen  anything  of  that  sort 
anywhere  in  Korsakoff sk?  " 

"  Then  for  the  mental  or  moral  or  religious 
improvement  of  the  inmates  of  the  prison  abso- 
lutely nothing  whatever  is  done  ofificially,  no 
more  than  if  they  were  cattle?  " 

To  this  last  question  the  priest  gave  a 
French  shrug  of  the  shoulders  and  replied: 

"Alas!  alas!  so  it  is!  You  know  how  it  is 
all  through  Siberia,  only  here  it  is  worse,  be- 
cause we  are  beyond  the  reach  of  all  voluntary 
and  philanthropic  efforts,  which  in  some  parts, 
as  you  know,  supplement  the  meagre  provisions 
made  by  the  Administration." 

My  good  friend,  while  respecting  my  atti- 
tude, seemed  to  say,  "  This  is  not  as  I  would 
choose  to  have  it,  but,  you  see,  though  above 
all  a  priest  of  God,  I  am  primarily  a  servant  of 
the  state.  What  would  you?  Did  you  ever 
hear  of  a  servant  undertaking  to  reform  his  em- 
ployer upon  whom  he  is  dependent  for  his  bread 
and  butter?  " 

We  naturally  had  a  good  many  conversa- 
tions together  about  the  reform  of  criminals  in 
KorsakoiTsk,  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  some 
most  interesting  incidents  in  that  connection 
within  his  own  observation;  but  from  what  I 
279 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  already  said  it  will  be  foreseen,  perhaps, 
that  his  views  on  the  point  were  not  very  en- 
thusiastic or  hopeful. 

When  to  the  fact  of  the  merely  animal  ex- 
istence of  these  convicts  during  the  incarcera- 
tion period  we  add  one  other  fact,  viz.,  the 
weeks  and  months  of  enforced  idleness  of  many 
of  them  during  the  long  winter,  we  have  before 
us  the  prime  cause  of  by  far  the  larger  number 
of  the  worst  evils  incident  to  the  prison  life  in 
Sakhalin,  as  also  throughout  Siberia.  Imagine 
over  a  hundred  such  men,  mostly  murderers,  in 
a  single  herd,  as  I  have  seen  them,  who  for 
months  and  months  have  no  more  occupation 
of  any  kind  than  swine  in  a  sty,  and  it  will  be 
easy  to  believe  that  my  contention  on  this  point 
was  agreed  to  even  by  the  officials  with  whom 
I  discussed  the  matter. 

It  is  only  as  it  concerns  free  convicts,  and 
after  release  from  prison,  that  the  question  of 
reformation  can  come  within  reasonable  consid- 
eration. 

What  are  the  means  especially  provided  for 
the  mental  and  moral  elevation  of  the  free  con- 
vict? So  far  as  I  could  discover  there  were  none 
whatever.  There  are  no  restrictions,  however. 
He  is  free  to  follow  his  best  inclinations  as  far 
as  he  can.  To  be  sure,  this  does  not  seem  all 
that  could  be  wished  for,  but  it  will  have  been 
280 


The  Question  of  Reformation 

already  seen  from  what  I  have  said,  that  in  the 
way  of  material  aids  on  these  lines  there  is  not 
much  to  choose  between  the  lot  of  the  exile 
and  that  of  the  ofificials  over  him.  One  kind  of 
reformation  there  certainly  is.  Let  us  look  at 
the  completeness  of  the  reformation  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  of  the  convict  com- 
pared with  his  former  and  ante-prison  condi- 
tions. 

These  new  conditions  consist  briefly  in  se- 
curing to  the  exile,  first,  a  minimum  of  temp- 
tation; second,  the  restraint  arising  from  the 
certainty  that  the  slightest  crime  is  sure  to  be 
followed  by  detection  and  punishment;  the  im- 
possibility of  immunity. 

The  thief  has  the  smallest  possible  tempta- 
tion to  steal  in  a  community  where  everybody  is 
practically  as  poor  in  movable  property  as  he  is 
himself;  he  can  imagine  himself  to  be  honest. 
Where  private  signatures  have  no  money  value, 
the  forger  has  little  temptation  to  imitate  them. 

Where  the  feminine  element  is  so  small,  the 
incitements  and  temptations  to  carnal  indul- 
gences are  so  few  and  rare,  he  may  imagine 
himself  to  be  pure.  Where  the  system  of  es- 
pionage is  like  the  old  curfew  system,  with  the 
addition  of  a  police  visit  at  least  every  night, 
there  is  but  small  temptation  to  organize  po- 
litical plots.  Where  all  non-officials  are  equal, 
281 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

and  appearances  go  for  nothing,  there  is  small 
temptation  for  the  vain  or  ambitious  man  to 
adopt  vicious  methods  that  he  may  affect  a  style 
of  enviable  superiority.  Where  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  liquor  to  be  had,  there  is  small  temp- 
tation to  be  a  habitual  drunkard. 

Under  these  reformed  conditions,  so  differ- 
ent from  those  under  which  the  convict  first  be- 
came a  criminal  and  afterward  continued  his 
course,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mere  contem- 
plation of  ordinary  crime  would  be  suggestive 
of  insanity. 

Thus  it  will  be  understood  that  in  Sakhalin 
it  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  a  convict  to  know 
whether  he  himself  is  reformed  or  not,  while  by 
the  official  mind  this  negative  evidence  is  not 
accepted  as  proof  of  change  of  character.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  only  just  to  admit  that, 
whatever  his  previous  crimes  may  have  been, 
the  treatment  the  convict  receives  is  regulated 
exclusively  according  to  his  conduct  while  on 
the  island.  Once  the  convict  is  on  the  free  list, 
so  long  as  he  respects  the  regulations,  his  ad- 
vantages compare  favourably  with  those  of  a 
blameless  member  of  an  agricultural  community 
in  western  Russia.  Socially  he  has  an  advan- 
tage nowhere  else  possible  to  him  in  this:  his 
former  crimes  are  no  disability.  As  a  free  con- 
vict he  is  socially  the  equal  of  all  others  about 
282 


The  Question  of  Reformation 

him.  Whatever  respect  he  may  or  may  not  re- 
ceive from  his  neighbours,  depends  on  what  he 
does,  and  what  he  is  now  as  it  appears  to  them. 
From  the  fearful  disadvantages  of  outside  prej- 
udice prevalent  in  Europe,  the  Siberian  con- 
vict is  entirely  free.  Whatever  he  may  aspire 
to  be  morally  and  religiously,  that  he  is  at  liber- 
ty to  become.  The  church,  if  there  be  one  near 
enough  to  be  available,  is  his  church.  The 
priest  of  that  church  is  his  priest. 

Although,  as  I  have  said,  there  is  no  special 
provision  whatever  for  his  mental  improvement, 
there  is  nothing  to  keep  him  from  it.  If  asked, 
as  I  have  been  so  many  times,  "  Do  these  men, 
the  murderers,  ever  really  reform?  "  I  can  sim- 
ply reply  that  I  found  by  far  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  them  to  be  what  in  America  would  be 
called  "  good  citizens  ";  that  I  found  them  to  be 
sober,  tolerably  industrious,  law-abiding  per- 
sons, forming  peaceable  and  prosperous  commu- 
nities. I  have  never  yet  witnessed  so  much  as  a 
dispute  between  any  of  them. 

I  have  elsewhere  mentioned  that  a  relapse 
of  any  kind  is  followed  by  forfeiture  of  all  priv- 
ileges and  a  return  to  the  prison,  and  as  the 
denial  of  even  a  free  convict  in  case  of  an  accu- 
sation goes  for  very  little,  the  general  good 
conduct  of  these  people  is  guarded  by  the 
strongest  motives.  From  other  descriptions  I 
283 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  given  it  will  have  been  seen  that  a  large 
number  of  them  also,  judging  by  their  attend- 
ance and  by  their  behaviour  at  church,  are  cer- 
tainly very  religious. 

Few  of  us,  I  hope,  in  our  own  sphere  would 
venture  to  go  beyond  these  lines  in  the  judg- 
ment of  our  neighbours.  To  some  of  my  inter- 
rogators of  the  latter  class  I  have  recalled  the 
story  of  David  and  his  complex  crime  in  which 
the  murder  of  Uriah  was  but  a  single  item;  the 
story  of  Peter,  and  of  the  accidental  inch  which 
in  the  darkness  intervened  between  him  and  the 
probable  homicide  of  the  High  Priest's  serv- 
ant— crimes  either  of  which  in  Russia  might 
have  sent  the  accused  to  Sakhalin  to  be  one  of 
the  criminals  now  under  consideration. 

During  recent  years  criminals  other  than 
murderers  have  been  sent  to  Sakhalin,  and  as 
this  new  Siberia  is  intended  hereafter  more  and 
more  to  take  the  place  of  the  older  continental 
Siberia,  this  course  is  every  year  being  more  and 
more  pursued. 

Of  the  total  number  of  exiles  in  Sakhalin  in 
1890,  the  proportion  of  murderers  is  greater, 
therefore,  than  it  is  likely  to  be  at  any  period 
after  that  date,  and  thus  the  statistics  respecting 
the  colony  as  it  was  then  constituted  furnish  a 
better  basis  of  calculation  concerning  the  point 
in  question  than  can  figures  from  that  date 
284 


The  Question  of  Reformation 

onward.  These  statistics,  which  I  submit  below, 
will  show  that  because  a  man's  crime  has  hap- 
pened to  be  that  of  murder  he  is  not  therefore 
specifically  and  wholly  irreclaimable,  and  that 
he  necessarily  can  be  of  no  further  use  to  the 
state.  They  show  not  only  the  fact,  which 
might  be  accidental,  that  a  large  proportion 
have  apparently  reformed  at  given  periods,  but 
that  this  apparent  reformation  is  observable  in 
those  who  have  arrived  in  Sakhalin  at  successive 
periods,  or  at  a  progressive  ratio.  That  the 
subjoined  statistics  may  be  better  understood, 
I  would  explain  that  all  exiles  in  Sakhalin  be- 
long to  one  of  three  categories,  promotion  from 
the  first  to  the  second,  and  from  the  second  to 
the  third  being  regulated  by  the  good  conduct 
of  the  exile,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  deg- 
radation from  the  third  to  the  second  or  the 
first  category  may  be  the  penalty  for  bad 
conduct. 

Class  I. — Included  forced  labourers  in 
mines;  on  public  works,  such  as  harbour  or  road 
construction;  draining  land,  or  in  prison  work- 
shops. 

Class  2. — Forced  colonists;  located  in  ag- 
ricultural villages  under  police  surveillance. 

Class  5. — Agricultural  peasant  colonists, 
who  are  supplied  by  the  Government  with  tools, 
seed,  cattle,  etc.,  and  are  allowed  to  develop 

285 


Prisoners  of  Russia 


farms,  raise  stock,  etc.,  in  their  own  way.  After 
deduction  of  a  fixed  rate  of  interest  on  the  cap- 
ital supplied  them,  the  surplus  of  profit  is  their 
own.  These  people  are  subject  to  only  a  very 
slight  police  surveillance  and,  except  for  compul- 
sion of  residence  in  the  locality  assigned  them, 
are  comfortably  situated  and  practically  free. 

Leaving  out  their  families,  the  exiles  of  all 
classes  in  Sakhalin  on  December  31,  1890,  gave 
a  total  of  10,685,  which  were  classified  as 
follows : 

Class  I.  Forced  workers 5>287  men,  673  women  =    5,960 

"     2.  Forced  colonists 3.677  men,  479  women  =    4,156 

"     3.  Peasant  colonists 422  men,  147  women  =       569 

Total 10,685 

On  January  i,  1890,  there  were:. 

Class  I.  Forced  workers 5.803 

"     2.  Forced  colonists 3.713 

"     3.  Peasant  colonists 459 

Total 9,974 

The  difference  between  these  figures  during 
the  year  is  thus  accounted  for: 

Arrived  during  i8go 


Sent  from  Europe 

Recon- 
demned 
on  Sak- 
halin. 

Promoted. 

• 

via  sea. 

via  Si- 
beria. 

Forced 
colonists. 

Peasant 
colonists. 

1.  Forced  workers. . . 

2.  Forced  colonists . . 

3.  Peasant  colonists. 

1,132 
I 

74 

8 

16 

I 

731 

179 

286 


The   Question  of  Reformation 


Taken  off  Lists 


Died. 

Fled  or 
missing. 

Demitted. 

Promoted. 

Europe. 

Siberia. 

Colo- 
nists. 

Peasant 
colo- 
nists. 

1.  Forced  workers. . 

2.  Forced  colonists. . 

3.  Peasant  colonists. 

153 
81 

4 

127 

3 

5 
5 

47 
29 

65 

731 

179 

From  this  we  see  during  the  year  an  in- 
crease of  713  persons — i.  e.,  159  forced  work- 
ers, 444  forced  colonists,  and  no  peasants. 
During  1890  alone  731  forced  workers  were 
promoted  to  forced  colonists,  and  179  were  pro- 
moted to  peasant  colonists. 

In  1882  the  forced  workers  formed  62  per 
cent  of  the  total  Russian  population.  In  1890, 
notwithstanding  the  arrival  of  1,232  fresh  con- 
victs, who  were  all  forced  workers,  and  who 
are  included  in  these  statistics,  this  proportion 
was  reduced  to  30  per  cent,  or  about  one  half 
what  it  was  eight  years  before. 

This  successful  conversion  of  forced  col- 
onists into  peasant  colonists  in  so  short  a  time 
is  certainly  very  instructive  and  encouraging  as 
regards  the  reformation  of  the  individuals,  and 
the  development  of  otherwise  useless  land.  It 
should  be  very  suggestive  to  m6re  civilized 
states,  regarding  a  better  use  of  their  criminals. 

These  statistics  refer,  as  I  have  remarked, 
*        287 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

to  a  period  when  Sakhalin  was  reserved  only 
for  the  worst  criminals.  Among  the  females 
sent  to  the  island  during  this  period,  the  pro- 
portion of  murderesses  to  all  the  other  classes 
of  criminals  put  together  was  five  to  one.  Of 
the  males,  three  times  more  had  been  con- 
demned for  murder  than  for  any  other  crime. 
To  allow  a  wide  margin  for  judicial  and  other 
mistakes,  let  us  suppose  that  of  the  4,724  exiles 
stated  to  have  been  promoted,  only  2,000  had 
been  really  guilty  of  murder.  This  gives  us 
certainly  2,000  persons,  once  murderers,  now 
peaceful,  productive,  successful  colonists,  and  in 
this  fact  may  be  found  my  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  respecting 
the  possibility  of  the  reformation  of  murderers. 

If  it  be  allowed  that  I  have  now  earned  the 
right  to  put  a  question  myself,  I  would  ask: 

"  In  what  respect  would  it  be  better  if  these 
2,000  people  had  been  hanged?  " 


288 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

THE  GEOGRAPHY  AND  NATURAL  RESOURCES  OF 
SAKHALIN 

Although  so  little  known,  Sakhalin  must 
be  classed  among  the  larger  islands  of  the  world, 
being  in  length  about  the  same  as  England. 
According  to  an  official  report  made  to  the  Rus- 
sian Geographical  Society  by  Polyakoff  in  1883, 
Sakhalin  is  670  miles  in  length,  and  has  a  width 
varying  from  20  to  150  miles. 

It  is  situated  between  the  extreme  eastern 
coast  of  the  mainland  of  Siberia  on  the  west,  and 
the  promontory  of  Kamchatka  on  the  east.  On 
the  north  and  east  it  is  bounded  by  the  Okhotsk 
Sea,  on  the  south  by  the  Strait  of  La  Perouse, 
and  on  the  west  by  the  Gulf  of  Tartary,  which 
through  the  Bay  of  Castries  and  the  Bay  of 
Amur  connects  the  Sea  of  Japan  on  the  south- 
west with  the  Okhotsk  on  the  northwest;  while 
La  Perouse  Strait,  on  the  south  of  Sakhalin, 
connects  the  Sea  of  Japan  and  the  Gulf  of  Tar- 
tary on  the  south  and  west,  with  the  Okhotsk  Sea 
and  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  east  and  southeast, 
21  289 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

At  a  point  on  the  northwest  coast,  above 
Alexandrovsk,  the  water  channel  between  the 
island  and  the  mainland  is  so  narrow  that  for 
about  six  months  in  the  year  the  only  post  route 
to  St.  Petersburg  from  it  crosses  the  channel 
on  the  ice  from  the  little  village  of  Pogobi  to 
Cape  Lazaneff,  a  point  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  mainland  of  Siberia.  This  proximity  may 
partly  explain  the  fact  that  this  island  was,  till 
comparatively  recent  times,  supposed  to  be  a 
promontory.  It  is  said  that  La  Perouse  had  a 
suspicion  to  the  contrary  in  1787,  but  no  dem- 
onstration of  its  being  an  island  was  arrived  at 
until  so  late  as  1849  o^"  i^S^. 

The  earliest  notice  of  this  territory  seems  to 
date  back  to  1643,  when  it  was  referred  to  by 
one  Martin  Gerritt  of  Holland;  also,  about  the 
same  time,  by  Captain  de  Vries,  and  Pere 
Hieronymus. 

The  first  people  to  make  any  use  of  the 
island  were  the  Japanese,  who  established  more 
and  more  fishing  stations  there,  and  who,  up  to 
about  1850,  regarded  their  exclusive  right  to 
the  entire  island,  which  they  called  Karafuto 
or  Karapto,  as  unquestioned. 

It  appears  that  in   1807,  on  the  first  visit 

of    Russians    to    Sakhalin,    Captain    Nemelski 

hoisted    the    Russian    flag    somewhere    in    the 

northwest  part  of  the  island,  but  that  the  Rus- 

290 


The  Geography  of  Sakhalin 

sian  Government  afterward  disowned  the  pro- 
ceeding. 

On  a  map  published  by  Gall  &  Inglis,  of 
Edinburgh,  in  1850,  as  on  various  other  maps 
of  about  that  date,  it  will  be  found  that  from 
Nertchinsk,  at  the  junction  of  the  Shilka  and 
Amur  rivers,  the  region  extending  to  the  north 
of  Nickolaivsk,  Sakhalin  included,  is  all  repre- 
sented as  part  of  Manchuria,  and  as  Chinese 
territory.  It  seems  pretty  certain  that  up  to 
1850,  and  even  1852,  the  Russians  still  re- 
garded the  island  of  Karapto  as  a  promontory. 

In  1853  Russia  commenced  to  estabhsh  a 
station  and  a  military  post  in  the  northwest  of 
the  island,  near  the  site  of  the  present  station  of 
Dui,  but  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Turkish  war 
relinquished  them. 

Between  i860  and  1867  Russia  employed 
scientific  expeditions  to  explore  and  report  upon 
the  island,  and  these  reports,  of  which  I  shall 
have  more  to  say  hereafter,  were  followed  by 
further  plans  for  the  occupation  of  the  northern 
and  western  part  of  it.  The  principal  induce- 
ment, as  exhibited  in  these  reports,  was  the 
finding  of  Jurassic  layers  of  coal,  situated  close 
by  the  present  site  of  Dui,  near  the  mouth  of 
Castries  Bay.  The  prospect  of  a  coal-mine,  rep- 
resented as  inexhaustible,  close  beside  what  was 
said  to  be  a  promising  site  for  a  port,  must  have 
291 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

been  regarded  by  the  Russian  Government, 
which  had  a  navy  in  the  East  but  no  coaling 
station,  as  only  a  little  less  desirable  than  a  gold- 
mine. 

There  was  another  desideratum,  which  some 
officials  regarded  as  being  of  equal  or  even  su- 
perior importance.  The  prodigious  cost  of  the 
unsuccessful  system  for  preventing  the  perpet- 
ual escapes  of  the  more  dangerous  exiles  scat- 
tered throughout  the  vast  area  of  Siberia  could 
only  be  remedied  by  finding  a  place  with  such 
natural  barriers  as  would  render  all  attempts  at 
escape  entirely  hopeless.  Of  this  difficult  and 
troublesome  problem  Sakhalin  would  be  the 
solution. 

Regardless  of  the  peaceable  Japanese,  who 
by  possession  considered  the  entire  island  right- 
ly their  own,  the  Russians  extended  their  sta- 
tions towards  the  south  and  the  best-chosen 
localities  and  fishing  settlements  of  the  Japanese 
along  the  extreme  southern  and  southeastern 
coasts.  Wherever  the  Russians  planted  a  station, 
they  established  by  the  side  of  it  a  military  post. 
At  that  time  the  Japanese  did  not  possess  a 
single  man-of-war;  the  Russians  had  not  only 
an  army  on  the  spot,  they  also  had  a  navy,  with 
its  Asiatic  Squadron.  They  did  not  employ 
these  forces  against  the  peaceful  Japanese;  not 
even  in  words  did  they  threaten  such  a  course. 
292 


The  Geography  of  Sakhalin 

In  the  generosity  of  its  heart,  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment proposed  to  them  a  bargain. 

The  Japanese  are  fond  of  a  variety  of  names, 
not  only  for  themselves  but  for  their  possessions. 
Besides  Karafuto  and  Karapto  they  had  called 
Sakhalin  by  the  name  "  Sakhalin  ula  hota,"  the 
meaning  of  which  is  "  Rocks  at  the  mouth  of  the 
black  river."  For  this  single  possession  of  Rocks 
at  the  mouth  of  the  black  river,  Russia  offered 
to  give  them  in  exchange  a  whole  string  of 
islands  known  as  the  Kuriles,  also  to  pay  a 
small  fixed  sum  annually  for  a  certain  term  of 
years. 

In  1875  these  terms  were  accepted  by  the 
Japanese,  and  the  island  of  Sakhalin,  which  is 
as  long  as  England,  became  the  exclusive  prop- 
erty of  the  Russian  Government.  The  Japanese 
now  know  that  if  all  the  Kurile  islands  were 
put  up  at  auction  to-morrow,  the  entire  lot 
would  not  fetch  a  shilling. 

Had  Russia  advanced  a  little  farther  from 
her  recent  barbarism,  she  would  hardly  have 
stooped  to  such  huckstering,  but,  following  the 
example  of  the  more  civilized  of  the  other 
Christian  nations  of  Europe,  when  she  had  dis- 
covered that  this  unprotected  island  might  be 
useful  to  her,  she  would  have  provoked  an  ex- 
cuse for  slaughtering  the  peaceful  occupants  of 
the  island,  and  then  honourably  annexed  it. 
293 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  Russo- 
Japanese  treaty,  the  Japanese  retain  a  consular 
agent  at  Korsakofifsk,  who  receives  the  stipu- 
lated annual  payment  from  the  Russians,  and 
pays  them  a  specified  pro  rata  tax  levied  upon 
Japanese  fishermen  who  continue  to  preponder- 
ate in  the  annual  fishing  excursions  to  the  Sak- 
halin waters. 

If  we  revert  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
wonderfully  large  area  of  Siberia  was  added  to 
Russia,  and  to  the  manner  in  which  a  large 
slice  of  Manchuria  was  added  thereto,  we  shall 
see  that  it  was  precisely  by  the  same  singularly 
Russian  method  that  she  noiselessly  crept  into 
Sakhalin,  and  afterward  added  that  also  to  her 
eastern  territory. 

While  we  cannot  be  surprised  at  the  suspi- 
cion which  these  achievements  have  inspired  in 
rival  nations,  we  cannot  withhold  from  Russia 
exceptional  credit  for  the  fact  that  in  each  of 
these  instances  the  extension  of  territory  was 
acquired  by  the  Russian  Government  without 
the  authorized  shedding  of  a  drop  of  human 
blood.  Neither  of  these  territories  has  been  ac- 
quired by  armed  conquest,  but  each  in  its  turn 
simply  by  military  menace  and  gradual  ab- 
sorption. 

The  spelling  I  have  adopted  for  the  name  of 
the  island  under  consideration  is  justified  by 
294 


The  Geography  of  Sakhalin 

the  fact  that  it  gives  the  nearest  approach  in 
Enghsh  to  the  pronunciation  of  the  designation 
in  common  usage  among  the  Russians  who  re- 
side upon  it  and  in  its  neighbourhood.  To  give 
the  pronunciation  with  exactness  a  German 
form  would  be  called  for,  but  if  I  spelt  the 
word  as  Sachhalin,  its  pronunciation  in  Eng- 
lish would  be  liable  to  a  perversion  much  greater 
than  can  possibly  occur  by  the  spelling  Sakhalin, 
which  I  have  accordingly  adopted. 

Sakhalin  is  an  exceedingly  hilly  country. 
Its  valleys  are,  for  the  larger  part,  narrow, 
and  their  area  comparatively  small.  The  prin- 
cipal range  of  hills  runs  from  Cape  Crillon  on 
the  extreme  southwest  of  the  island  along  the 
entire  western  coast;  some  of  the  hills  in  this 
range  are  the  highest  on  the  island,  several  of 
them  reaching  an  altitude  of  about  five  thou- 
sand feet.  The  other  principal  range  is  of  lower 
hills;  it  runs  from  Cape  Notoro  on  the  south- 
west, with  a  good  many  breaks,  along  the  east 
coast,  somewhat  back  from  the  shore,  until  it 
unites  with  the  western  range  in  the  north  of  the 
island  and  above  Dui,  where  another  break  oc- 
curs. It  then  continues  along  the  east  coast  up 
to  the  most  northern  point  of  the  island.  The 
western  range  seems  to  be  a  broken  continua- 
tion of  the  Yezo  chain  on  the  south  of  La  Pe- 
rouse  Strait,  and  to  form  a  link  between  this  and 
295 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

the  more  lofty  mountains  in  the  Kamchatka 
promontory. 

Whereas,  however,  the  Yezo  range  is  act- 
ively volcanic,  and  supplies  to  commerce  an 
inexhaustible  yield  of  solid  sulphur;  and  whereas 
the  Kamchatka  range  is  notorious  for  the  inces- 
sant and  often  violent  activity  of  its  volcanoes, 
the  Sakhalin  Hnk  presents  no  signs  of  volcanic 
activity,  and  the  island  is  entirely  free  from  the 
earthquakes  which  are  of  such  frequent  occur- 
rence both  in  Yezo  and  in  Kamchatka. 

The  best  pass  through  the  western  range  of 
Sakhalin  is  that  known  as  the  Dui  Pass,  which 
runs  from  Dui  to  the  valley  of  the  Toronai  and 
to  the  Bay  of  Terpenia.  It  is  through  this  pass 
that  runs  the  only  so-called  road  of  any  consid- 
erable length  of  which  Sakhalin  can  boast.  This 
road  runs  from  Dui  through  the  valley  of  the 
Toronai  towards  Terpenia  Bay,  thence  down 
the  island  near  the  eastern  coast,  where  it 
diverges  to  the  west,  and  then  turns  directly 
south  through  the  dense  forest  down  the  mid- 
dle of  the  island  to  Aniva  Bay.  Here  it  turns 
due  east  along  the  coast  of  Korsakofifsk.  This 
road,  which  is  as  yet  unfinished,  is  regarded  as 
the  proudest  feat  the  officials  have  achieved  on 
the  island.  From  my  experience  in  going  over 
it,  I  should  describe  it  as  a  regular  bone-breaker, 
for  it  is  little  more  than  a  line  of  clearing 
296 


The  Geography  of  Sakhalin 

through  a  dense,  interminable  and  ahnost  un- 
broken forest.  As  this  road,  which  is  the  only 
open  route  for  the  St.  Petersburg  mail  from 
April  to  October  between  Korsakoffsk  and  Dui, 
is  during  the  greater  part  of  that  period,  and  for 
about  three  hundred  miles,  only  passable  for 
dog-sleighs,  it  will  be  understood  that  this  soli- 
tary track  is  not  exactly  a  Roman  road,  nor  in 
any  sense  an  English  turnpike. 

With  this  single  exception,  there  is  no  other 
road  at  present  in  the  island,  except  one  from 
Dui  through  Alexandrovsk  to  Pogobi,  which  is 
simply  an  extension  of  the  Dui  road,  and  such 
other  roads  of  a  few  miles  in  length  as  are 
necessary  for  purely  local  purposes. 

The  west  coast  of  Sakhalin  is,  for  the  most 
part,  precipitous  and  rocky;  the  east  coast,  from 
the  hills  to  the  water-line,  inclined  to  be  flat 
and  sandy.  The  Bay  of  Aniva  is  over  sixty 
miles  wide,  and,  with  its  exceedingly  varied 
range  of  bold  hills,  presents  a  very  handsome 
appearance.  It  is  altogether  the  most  attractive 
spot  in  the  island. 

The  principal  fishing  grounds  are  off  the 
east  coast,  the  points  of  rendezvous  for  the  ves- 
sels engaged  in  it  during  the  summer  season 
being  Naiboutchi  and  Manone,  between  the  Bay 
of  Mauka  and  the  Bay  of  Patience.  From 
conversations  I  had  with  various  persons  en- 
297 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

gaged  in  the  trade,  I  judge  that  the  fruitfulness 
of  these  waters  is  not  yet  generally  known.  A 
Russian  prince  whom  I  met  out  there,  who 
owned  and  commanded  a  very  large  whaling 
steamer  and  was  accompanied  by  two  sailing 
vessels  of  his  own,  told  me  that  whales  were  so 
abundant  that  it  took  him  only  a  few  weeks  to 
load  up  all  his  tanks,  and  that,  though  the  season 
was  so  short,  he  had  managed  to  make  two 
trips  so  far  each  summer.  Yet  he  seemed  to  be 
the  only  person  who  was  exploiting  that  region 
on  anything  like  a  large  scale.  The  Japanese 
fishermen,  who  largely  preponderate  in  num- 
bers, confine  their  catches  mostly  to  the  salmon- 
trout,  which  are  in  such  abundant  shoals  there, 
and  leave  the  whales  entirely  to  the  very  few 
others  who  have  the  capital  and  the  enterprise 
that  branch  of  the  trade  requires. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  judge  in  such  mat- 
ters, but  I  am  very  much  of  the  opinion  that  to 
somebody  or  other  the  hint  contained  in  these 
lines  might  prove  to  have  great  commercial 
value,  as  proved  already  by  Mr.  Dlubigh  in  the 
Mauka  vicinity. 

A  great  defect  pertaining  to  Sakhalin  is 
this:  that  along  all  its  fifteen  hundred  and  more 
miles  of  coast  it  is  entirely  destitute  not  only 
of  a  good  harbour,  but  of  a  single  safe  anchor- 
age. 

298 


>^T^H 

*^^1 

i>MW  fe.fi       !                                            S^^^^H 

.^jj^^^^H 

The  Geography  of  Sakhalin 

It  is  true  that  Dui,  which  is  its  principal 
entrepot,  is  called  a  port,  but  even  there  seagoing 
vessels  of  the  most  moderate  draught  can 
neither  take  in  nor  discharge  cargo,  except  by- 
lighters.  At  Korsakoffsk,  which  does  not  pre- 
tend to  be  a  port,  the  same  also  holds  good,  as 
it  is  unsafe  for  any  seagoing  vessel  of  the  small- 
est dimensions  to  anchor  within  a  mile  or  a  mile 
and  a  half  of  the  little  wooden  landing  pier 
there.  The  reasons  for  this,  which  are  natural 
and  said  to  be  entirely  insurmountable,  I  will 
reserve  till  I  come  to  deal  with  the  peculiar  fea- 
tures of  the  climate  of  this  island. 

There  are  three  lakes  in  Sakhalin,  one  of 
which  is  about  fifty  miles  in  length.  Of  the 
numerous  rivers  the  larger  are  the  Toronai, 
which  gives  its  name  to  the  valley  through 
which  it  passes,  and  the  Tym.  Both  these 
rivers  empty  themselves  on  the  east  coast 
into  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  and  neither  of  them  is 
navigable.  The  smaller  streams  are  numer- 
ous, and  a  European  would  say  of  most  of 
them  that  they  "  abound "  in  fish.  Better 
and  more  neglected  trout  streams  than  those 
of  them  which  I  have  seen  it  would  be 
difBcult  to  find  anywhere,  nor  is  this  at  all 
remarkable  in  a  country  where  the  fresh- 
water fish  enjoy  the  protection  of  absolute 
neglect. 

299 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

The  climate  of  Sakhalin  presents  an  excep- 
tional phenomenon,  consequent  upon  other  phe- 
nomena which  are  entirely  local.  Some  inci- 
dental remarks  respecting  this  peculiar  climate 
which  appeared  in  my  recent  book  on  Life 
with  Trans-Siberian  Savages  were  ridiculed  by 
one  or  two  of  its  many  reviewers,  who  found, 
simply  by  reference  to  a  map,  that  my  state- 
ments were  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  lati- 
tude of  the  region  in  question. 

The  facts  as  I  have  stated  them,  however, 
remain.  And  although  the  most  northernly 
point  of  Sakhalin  is  only  54°  22',  while  that  of 
Scotland  is  56°  30',  and  though  the  larger  part 
of  the  island  of  Sakhalin  has  the  same  latitude 
as  central  France,  the  mean  temperature  from 
January,  even  in  the  centre  of  the  island,  is 
given  in  the  official  tables  as  10°  below  zero 
Fahrenheit,  while  during  the  same  month  it 
sometimes  falls  as  low  as  14°  below.  It  is 
equally  true  that  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
winter  the  Okhotsk  Sea  is  frozen  over,  and  that 
from  about  the  month  of  October  till  about  the 
month  of  May  navigation  ceases  in  Sakhalin 
waters,  because  during  that  period  the  entire 
island  is  locked  in  by  impenetrable  ice. 

On  the  contrary,  for  the  month  of  July  the 
same  official  tables  give  the  mean  temperature 
as  62°  37'  Fahrenheit  at  Korsakoffsk,  on  the  Bay 
300 


The  Climate  of  Sakhalin 

of  Aniva.  I  have  myself  seen  the  thermometer 
standing  at  above  70°  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade. 
When  I  was  in  SakhaHn  in  1890,  the  officers  at 
Korsakoffsk,  both  civil  and  military,  for  many 
weeks  running,  wore  uniforms  made  entirely  of 
white  duck,  the  material  being  the  same  as  is 
commonly  used  in  the  tropics.  As  they  all 
seemed  to  have  a  good  stock  of  these  uniforms 
for  frequent  renewal,  it  was  evident  that  the 
general  use  of  them  that  summer  was  no  excep- 
tional or  unforeseen  circumstance. 

But  what  is  the  explanation,  you  will  ask, 
of  these  interesting  variations  and  contrasts? 

In  approaching  what  I  assume  to  be  but  a 
proximate  answer  to  the  question,  several  facts 
will  have  to  be  noted  which  are  strictly  of  a  local 
nature. 

By  reference  to  a  map  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  only  land  to  the  north  and  northeast  of  Sak- 
halin is  that  of  northeastern  Siberia,  including 
Kamchatka.  The  greater  part  of  the  promon- 
tory of  Kamchatka  is  within  precisely  the  same 
latitude  as  Great  Britain,  yet  the  extreme  cold- 
ness of  that  region  as  compared  with  Great 
Britain  is  a  fact  with  which  everybody  is  famil- 
iar. About  October  two  events  of  leading  im- 
portance in  this  consideration  occur  nearly  or 
quite  simultaneously.  The  first  is  the  freezing 
of  parts  of  the  Okhotsk  Sea;  the  second,  the  set- 
301 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ting  in  of  a  northeast  wind.  This  wind,  which 
thenceforward  continues  all  through  the  winter, 
at  once  increases  the  force  of  the  perpetual 
northeast  currents,  which  not  only  carry  the 
newly  formed  fields  of  ice  and  pile  them  up  all 
along  the  eastern  coast  of  Sakhalin,  but  impel 
them  through  the  Bay  of  Amur,  choking  up 
the  narrow  channel  opposite  Pogobi,  filling  up 
the  Gulf  of  Tartary,  and  forming  a  junction  with 
the  floes  driving  through  La  Perouse  Strait 
from  the  east,  thus  completing  the  chain  by 
which  the  entire  island  is  completely  bound  and 
locked  in  rugged  ice  for  the  entire  winter. 

The  Sea  of  Okhotsk  in  due  time  becomes 
completely  frozen  over,  and  remains  so  from 
that  time  till  the  spring  of  the  following  year. 
During  all  this  prolonged  winter  time,  the  whole 
distance  between  Sakhalin  and  the  north  pole 
is  one  unbroken  area  of  snow  and  ice,  the  island 
being  a  continuation,  an  appendage,  of  this  im- 
mense frozen  area.  Over  this  immense  arctic 
area  sweeps  the  northeast  wind  that  prevails  in 
Sakhalin  throughout  the  winter.  The  cold  it 
brings  with  it,  and  the  further  cold  incident  to 
the  ice  floes  which  it  brings  to  the  Sakhalin 
shores  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  winter, 
compel  us  to  class  it  as  among  the  first  of  the 
local  phenomena  to  which  the  low  winter  tem- 
perature of  Sakhalin  may  be  attributed. 
302 


The  Climate  of  Sakhalin 

To  this  northeast  wind  may  also  be  largely 
attributed  another  phenomenon  for  which  Sak- 
halin is  notorious.  During  the  prevalence  of 
this  wind,  the  east  coast  in  particular,  and  to  a 
great  extent  the  island  in  general,  is  shrouded 
in  fogs,  only  slightly  varying  in  density.  Not 
that  it  is  the  only  cause  of  them,  for,  as  I  have 
said,  at  all  times  there  are  strong  and  cold  ocean 
currents  from  the  colder  north  impinging  upon 
the  island.  These  strike  with  special  force  upon 
the  eastern  coast,  and  in  part  continue  their 
course  through  La  Perouse  Strait,  always  tend- 
ing to  the  precipitation  of  fogs,  though  they  are 
at  their  worst  only  when  the  northeast  wind  is 
strongest  and  most  persistent. 

I  have  already  stated  that  in  all  its  fifteen 
hundred  miles  of  coast,  Sakhalin  is  not  only  de- 
void of  a  harbour  worthy  of  the  name,  but  does 
not  even  possess  a  single  spot  anywhere  which 
is  regarded  as  a  safe  anchorage.  I  recur  to  this 
point  here  because  of  the  intimate  relation  be- 
tween this  fact  also  and  the  prevailing  winds 
and  currents  under  consideration.  The  absence 
of  safe  harbours  and  anchorage  is  not  owing  to 
the  absence  of  bays  and  inlets.  A  reference  to 
the  map  of  Sakhalin  will  show  that,  owing  to 
its  extremely  varied  configuration,  its  bays  and 
inlets  are,  on  the  contrary,  exceptionally  nu- 
merous. 

303 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

The  swift  northeastern  ocean  currents, 
which  derive  so  much  additional  force  from  the 
prevaihng  northeast  winds,  combine  to  create 
also  this  defect,  which  they  perpetuate  in  several 
ways. 

For  example,  Nickolaivsk,  just  across  the 
channel  from  Sakhalin,  for  a  long  time,  and 
until  recent  years,  was  the  one  port  of  Siberia. 
Dui,  farther  south,  was  and  is  still  the  one  so- 
called  port  of  Sakhalin,  and  it  was  once  thought 
that  it  could  be  made  into  an  excellent  harbour. 
The  strength  of  the  northeast  ocean  current, 
however,  has  kept  the  delta  of  the  Amur  in 
such  a  shifting  and  dangerous  state  that  sea- 
going vessels  have  for  some  time  almost  entirely 
avoided  the  harbour  of  Nickolaivsk.  Yet,  so 
far  as  an  inspection  of  the  map  would  indicate, 
the  situation  of  Nickolaivsk  would  appear  ex- 
ceedingly favourable  for  a  safe  and  permanent 
port. 

At  Dui  the  force  of  these  currents  causes 
the  sea  bottom  to  be  so  shifting  and  uncertain 
from  year  to  year,  that  even  the  Government 
coasting  steamer  is  obliged  to  anchor  with  great 
care  a  long  way  from  the  shore,  with  which  it 
can  have  no  communication  except  by  lighters. 

And  this  is  not  all  that  these  currents  do. 
Engineers  have  not  only  contemplated,  but  have 
several  times  commenced,  the  construction  of 
304 


The  Climate  of  Sakhalin 

harbour  works  and  docks  there,  but  the  pro- 
digious force  with  which  these  currents  drive 
the  ice  floes  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
winter  is  so  thoroughly  irresistible  that  the 
works  which  have  been  attempted  over  and  over 
again  are  now  relinquished  as  impracticable. 

From  the  dangers  that  beset  the  inhospitable 
coasts  of  Sakhalin  on  the  east  and  on  the  west, 
there  might  be  supposed  to  be  a  partial  immu- 
nity on  the  south.  So  there  is,  in  certain  parts 
of  the  south  coast,  especially  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Bay  of  Aniva,  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  Korsakofifsk,  in  the  northeastern  portion  of 
this  bay.  This  is  not  because  the  northeast 
ocean  current  is  less  strong  through  La  Perouse 
Strait,  but  because  of  the  prominent  and  ex- 
tensive protection  afiforded  to  Aniva  Bay  by 
Cape  Edonna.  La  Perouse  Strait  is  directly 
open  to  this  current,  and  in  line  with  it,  but,  in 
consequence  of  the  position  of  Cape  Edonna, 
the  course  of  the  current  is  diverted  towards 
the  southern  shore  of  the  channel,  where  it 
impinges  with  its  greatest  force  upon  the  ex- 
treme northern  coast  of  Yezo,  at  about  Cape 
Soya  and  for  a  long  distance  to  the  west  of  it. 

So  much  for  some  of  the  local  natural  causes 

of  the  coldness  of  the  winter  climate  of  Sakhalin, 

and  for  the  natural  causes  which,  even  if  the 

island  were  a  free  colony,  would  threaten  a  par- 

-      "  305 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tial  continuance  at  least  of  its  exceptional  and 
almost  unique  isolation  in  comparison  with  the 
others  of  the  greater  islands  of  the  world. 

We  now  come  to  the  summer  climate  of 
Sakhalin,  and  to  the  local  natural  causes  for  the 
greatness  of  the  contrast  between  it  and  the 
winter  climate.  Our  task  on  this  point  will  be 
a  short  one.  About  the  month  of  May,  the  pre- 
vailing wind  is  exactly  the  reverse,  and  for  the 
northeast  wind  there  is  substituted  a  southwest 
wind,  or  monsoon  as  it  is  called,  which  is  just 
as  continuous  throughout  the  summer  as  the 
northeast  wind  is  in  the  winter. 

As  the  line  of  direction  of  this  wind  traverses 
t?he  plains  of  India  and  the  immense  and  for  the 
most  part  torrid  area  of  southeastern  Asia,  the 
land  being  continuous  for  about  four  thousand 
miles,  with  only  the  Gulf  of  Tartary  between  the 
mainland  and  Sakhalin;  as  the  ice  -floes  simulta- 
neously cease,  and  the  ocean  currents  from  the 
north  and  northeast  become  less  cold,  and  as, 
further,  the  latitude  of  a  great  part  of  Sakhalin 
is  the  same  as  that  of  Great  Britain,  it  is  not  so 
remarkable  as  it  at  first  may  appear,  that,  though 
the  winters  in  Sakhalin  are  so  extremely  cold, 
the  average  summer  weather  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  island  is  more  uniform  and  warm 
than  that  of  Great  Britain. 

As  the  fog  conditions  of  the  winter  months 
306 


The  Natives  of  Sakhalin 

are  reversed  in  the  summer,  during  the  latter 
season  these  fogs  almost  wholly  disappear.  For 
weeks  in  succession  I  have  seen  the  air  there 
as  clear  as  I  have  found  it  in  Nubia,  and  during 
all  those  weeks  I  wore  in  southern  Sakhalin 
the  same  suits  of  white  flannel  and  of  duck 
as  both  previously  and  subsequently  I  wore  in 
Ceylon. 

The  so-called  native  population  of  Sakhalin 
is  an  exceedingly  sparse  one,  and  consists  of 
Gilyaks,  Orokaps,  and  Ainus. 

The  Gilyaks,  who  are  said  to  number  about 
three  thousand,  confine  themselves  to  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  island. 

The  Orokaps,  said  to  be  of  the  same  stock 
as  the  Orochons  of  the  lower  Amur,  numbered, 
I  was  told,  not  more  than  two  or  three  hundred. 
The  Ainus,  of  whom  I  have  given  a  detailed 
account  in  my  Life  with  Trans-Siberian  Sav- 
ages, are  estimated  at  about  three  thousand. 
They  are  now  to  be  found  only  in  the  more 
southern  parts  of  the  island,  where  they  live  in 
villages  in  the  interior  of  the  interminable 
forests. 

The  staple  article  of  diet  with  all  these  tribes 
is  fish;  but  the  Ainus  are  the  hunters  of  the 
island,  and  vary  this  diet  with  the  flesh  of 
deer,  bear,  dog,  and  other  wild  animals.  The 
deer  they  kill  with  bows  and  arrows.  In  killing 
307 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

the  bear,  their  final  reliance  is  upon  long,  sharp, 
and  strong  knives,  which  they  obtain  by  barter 
from  the  Japanese;  and  in  the  taking  of  all  kinds 
of  animals  they  are  very  skilful  in  the  use  of 
concealed  traps.  They  are  naturally  a  mild, 
gentle,  and  courteous  race,  but,  with  the  capri- 
ciousness  which  belongs  to  children  and  savages 
everywhere,  they  can  be  very  ferocious,  as  I 
have  found  to  my  discomfort  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  The  Ainus  are  regarded  as  the  real 
aborigines,  first  of  Sakhalin,  and  subsequently 
of  Japan  also. 

The  habits  of  these  savages  could  never  have 
been  more  primitive  than  I  found  them.  Their 
huts  are  of  the  simplest  description.  The  walls 
and  roof  are  of  the  roughest  thatch,  the  latter 
having  a  large  hole  in  the  top  to  let  out  some 
of  the  smoke  which  rises  from  the  fire  in  a  shal- 
low pit  in  the  middle  of  the  mud  floor. 

The  clothing  of  these  people  varies  as  wide- 
ly as  the  climate.  During  the  summer  they 
cling  to  the  freedom  of  nakedness.  In  win- 
ter they  wear  most  grotesque  arrangements  of 
furs,  and  during  the  times  intermediate  thin 
and  surprisingly  tough  dresses  made  of  dressed 
fish-skin,  the  suits  of  this  material  for  special 
occasions  being  elaborately  but  roughly  em- 
broidered. Birch  bark  in  its  natural  state  is 
added  in  patches  to  some  of  their  garments,  and 
308 


The  Natives  of  Sakhalin 

a  fabric  of  coarse  texture  made  from  the  fibre 
of  it  is  also  used  by  them  for  clothing. 

The  Ainus  are  unique  among  all  human 
races  in  this:  that  the  entire  body  in  both  sexes 
is  covered  with  a  growth  of  rather  long  hairs. 

Looking  at  the  rudeness  of  the  huts  of  the 
Ainus,  and  at  the  length  and  severity  of  their 
unbroken  winters,  during  which  the  tempera- 
ture sometimes  falls  as  low  as  fourteen  degrees 
below  zero,  it  would  seem  at  first  thought  that 
the  exposure  of  a  single  winter  season  would 
effect  the  total  extinction  of  these  poor  crea- 
tures. But  the  hut  of  the  summer  becomes 
simply  the  interior  of  what  externally  appears 
in  winter  to  be  merely  a  snow  mound  with  a 
hole  in  the  top.  With  the  food  their  ant-like 
habits  have  stored  during  the  summer  added  to 
the  uninterrupted  products  of  the  chase,  their 
winter  life,  I  am  told,  is,  by  comparison  with 
their  summer  life,  not  quite  so  terrible  as  might 
be  imagined. 

In  my  book  on  my  life  with  these  people  I 
have  shown  that  the  Ainus  of  Sakhalin  are  prob- 
ably the  survivors  of  the  most  authentic  and 
ancient  race  of  savages  now  to  be  found  in  Asia'. 

I  have  been  in  contact  with  many  tribes  of 
savages  on  the  other  continents,  but  the  Ainus 
of  Sakhalin  I  regard  as  the  most  dirty  and  de- 
vout, amiable  and  courteous,  of  any  savages  I 
309 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

have  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing,  and  I  shall 
never  cease  to  be  grateful  to  them  for  their  gen- 
erous, simple,  unaffected  hospitality. 

The  Japanese  population  consists  of  only  a 
few  Japanese  summer  immigrants,  occupying 
temporary  huts  in  some  three  or  four  fishing 
stations  on  the  eastern  and  southern  coast  under 
the  treaty  regulations. 

The  civilized  population  is  exclusively  Rus- 
sian, and  the  entire  administration  of  the  affairs 
of  the  island,  internal  and  external,  pertains  of 
course  to  the  Imperial  Government  of  the  Rus- 
sian Empire,  of  which  Sakhalin  now  forms  a 
part.  In  1880  the  number  of  exiles  in  Sakhalin 
was  said  to  be  about  three  thousand,  exclusive 
of  troops  and  ofHcers,  civil  and  military.  Since 
that  time,  the  numbers  of  these  classes  have 
steadily  increased,  and  are  likely  to  do  so  here- 
after in  still  larger  proportions. 

The  wild  animals  of  Sakhalin  include  deer, 
bears,  foxes,  wolves,  dogs,  ermine,  and  other 
smaller  species.  Tradition  has  added  the  tiger 
to  this  list,  this  animal  being  said  to  have  occa- 
sionally strayed  from  Manchuria  across  the 
frozen  strait  near  Cape  Lazarefif,  but  I  have 
never  been  able  to  obtain  for  this  tradition  the 
most  distant  verification. 

From  these  animals  the  Ainus,  in  particular, 
obtain  the  meat  by  which  their  usual  fish  diet 
310 


The  Natives  of  Sakhalin 

is  sometimes  varied,  and  the  very  excellent  furs 
with  which  they  make  their  grotesquely  patched 
winter  garments.  With  the  surplus  they  obtain, 
by  barter,  knives,  arrowheads,  fish-hooks,  and 
other  rough  implements  from  the  Japanese 
traders,  who,  under  careful  restrictions,  are  occa- 
sionally allowed  to  touch  the  coast  in  their 
vicinity  for  this  purpose.  These  restrictions 
include  the  total  exclusion  of  fire-arms  and  of 
anything  which  can  induce  intoxication. 

These  occasional  barterings  have  never  been 
carried  beyond  the  limit  of  the  simple  and 
immediate  wants  of  the  aborigines.  Nothing 
which  could  be  called  a  fur  trade  has  ever  ex- 
isted in  Sakhalin,  and  the  prospect  of  such  a 
thing  is  even  more  remote  now  than  at  any  pre- 
vious period.  The  natives  have  neither  motive 
nor  opportunity  for  attempting  to  create  such  a 
trade.  Although  they  may  not  happen  to  know 
it,  and  have  no  occasion  to  feel  it,  the  home  of 
these  natives  is  entirely  circumscribed  within  the 
penal  coast-lines,  the  security  of  which  an  open 
trade  would  compromise.  Supposing  it  were 
allowed  them,  the  only  gain  would  be  money, 
which  has  neither  use  nor  value  with  them,  ex- 
cept as  ornaments  for  their  women. 

Russian  convicts  could  not  be  allowed  to  en- 
gage in  the  trade,  and  officers  have  other  occu- 
pations. 

311 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Even  in  the  way  of  sport,  the  hunting  of 
wild  animals  is  not  one  of  the  pastimes  of  the 
Russian  ofificer  in  Sakhalin.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem  to  the  English  military  officer,  I  never 
heard  the  mention  of  a  day's  shooting  in  the 
forests  of  the  island  by  any  one  of  the  many 
Russian  officers  stationed  there. 

They  are  not  lacking  in  furs,  however,  and 
from  the  number  some  of  them  showed  me  I 
judged  that  they  had  other  and  easier  ways  of 
getting  as  many  as  they  cared  to  possess. 

I  was  much  struck  with  the  tails  of  the  foxes 
in  Sakhalin.  They  were  at  least  twice  as  large 
as  any  I  have  seen  elsewhere.  The  colour  on 
the  upper  part  was  a  light  brown,  the  sides  of 
a  beautiful  gold  tint  graduated  to  a  pure  white 
on  the  underpart.  These  were  used  chiefly  for 
the  ornamentation  of  the  heavier  winter  sleigh 
robes. 

Some  naval  officers  with  whom  I  took 
luncheon  on  H.  M.  S.  Leander,  some  months 
afterward,  told  me  that  they  went  ashore  on  the 
west  coast  of  the  island  for  a  day's  shooting  in 
the  forest,  but  found,  to  their  disappointment, 
absolutely  nothing.  This  did  not  surprise  me, 
however,  for  here,  just  as  even  in  the  best  parts 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  except  by  accident, 
the  larger  animals  are  not  likely  to  be  found 
except  by  the  aborigines  in  the  one  case, 
312 


The  Fauna  of  Sakhalin 

as  by  the  trained  trappers  and  hunters  in  the 
other. 

This  is  sufficiently  illustrated  in  the  narra- 
tive I  have  elsewhere  given  of  my  own  hunting 
experiences  with  the  Ainus. 

With  the  exception  of  water-fowl,  which  are 
wonderfully  numerous  in  the  bays  and  inlets  on 
the  southern  part  of  the  island,  I  found  no  use 
for  a  shotgun  except  in  the  vicinity  of  Korsa- 
koffsk.  Although  I  discovered  that  my  ofBcial 
friends  strongly  disliked  my  wandering  far  from 
the  settlement  alone,  I  managed  to  bag  a  few 
snipe,  and  one  or  two  specimens  of  hazel 
grouse. 

The  feathered  tribe  is  very  scantily  repre- 
sented in  Sakhalin.  If  we  omit  the  twittering 
of  an  occasional  sparrow  in  the  shabbily  kept 
gardens  of  some  of  the  officers,  the  song  of  birds 
is  an  unknown  sound.  This  all-pervading 
silence  deepens,  if  possible,  the  dreaminess  of 
the  forests,  in  which  the  deadliness  of  the  soli- 
tude finds  its  most  dismal  expression. 

One  of  my  most  delightful  and  astonishing 
surprises  in  Sakhalin  occurred  near  Cape  Edon- 
na,  where  I  saw  the  kingfisher  referred  to  in  an 
earlier  chapter. 

For  a  few  days  in  July,  much  to  my  delight, 
a  few  swallows  came  skimming  through  the  sky, 
sailing  over  the  exercise  yards  of  the  main  pris- 
313 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

on  with  all  the  gaiety  imaginable;  then  I  saw 
them  no  more. 

On  the  beach  near  Cape  Crillon  I  once  saw 
also  some  black  crows,  but  I  never  encountered 
any  in  any  other  part  of  the  island. 

While  sailing  along  the  coast  of  Sakhalin,  the 
traveller  rarely  sees  a  spot  which  is  not  covered 
with  wood.  To  the  north  of  KorsakofTsk  I 
ascended  the  highest  of  the  hills  in  that  vicinity, 
which  in  the  beautiful  weather  then  prevailing 
commanded  a  view  northward  of  at  least  fifty 
miles  in  extent  up  the  centre  of  that  part  of  the 
island,  as  well  as  to  the  east  and  the  west, 
but  not  a  single  spot  clear  of  trees  was  visible. 
Such  an  extensive  stretch  of  primitive  unbroken 
forest,  I  think,  I  never  beheld  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world.  If  such  a  trip  were  possible,  I 
was  told  that  one  might  start  from  Korsakoffsk, 
half  a  mile  back  of  the  prison,  and  continue 
northward  for  four  or  five  hundred  miles 
through  an  unbroken  forest.  I  never  saw  a 
single  tree  on  the  island,  however,  which,  either 
for  its  size  or  its  beauty,  commanded  my  admi- 
ration or  fixed  my  attention. 

Upon  the  mountains  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  island  the  trees  are  mostly  deciduous  for 
the  first  seven  hundred  feet;  thence,  to  about  a 
thousand  feet,  conifers;  thereafter,  to  about 
twelve  hundred  feet,  they  are  again  deciduous. 
314 


Natural  Resources  of  Sakhalin 

Beyond  that  the  growth  is  chiefly  pine,  nearly 
or  quite  to  the  summits. 

The  species  which  most  abound  are  the  Nor- 
way spruce,  fir,  larch,  the  Siberian  fir,  birch,  and 
elm,  the  oak,  and  maple.  Everywhere,  however, 
and  in  all  cases,  the  growth  is  stunted  and  im- 
perfect, none  of  the  trees  arriving  at  anything 
like  fair  proportions. 

There  are  said  to  be  from  six  to  eight  hun- 
dred kinds  of  phanerogamous  plants  growing  in 
the  island,  about  twenty  of  which  are  peculiar  to 
Sakhalin.  In  the  main,  the  various  species  cor- 
respond pretty  closely  to  those  of  the  mainland 
opposite  and  of  Manchuria,  in  corresponding 
latitudes. 

The  Resources  of  Sakhalin  for  a  Pro- 
spective Self-sustaining  Colony 

Russia  does  not  pretend  that  she  acquires 
new  territory  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  the  unfor- 
tunate people  to  whom  it  belongs,  as  England 
does.  Among  the  lower  motives  which  actu- 
ated Russia  in  her  sly  and  crafty  scheming  for 
the  acquisition  of  Sakhalin,  doubtless  one  of  the 
strongest  was  the  prospective  possession  of  the 
coal-beds  now  known  as  the  Dui  eoal-mines. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  reports  made  by  scien- 
tific commissioners  between  i860  and  1867  it 
was  represented  that  these  Jurassic  coal  layers 
315 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

were  inexhaustible  in  quantity  and  excellent  in 
quality. 

Comparing  my  own  observations  with  the 
experience  of  several  steamship  captains  who 
have  used  it,  I  think  I  may  say  that  the  only 
opinion  as  to  its  quality  now  is  that  it  is  com- 
paratively inferior.  It  is  said  to  contain  from 
60  to  70  per  cent  of  pure  carbon,  but  it  is 
of  the  "  dusty  nut  "  kind.  It  is  not  in  demand 
to  any  extent,  therefore,  for  domestic  uses,  and 
for  steaming  purposes  is  incomparably  inferior 
to  the  coal  from  Cardiff  or  Newcastle.  Its  price 
is  about  six  shillings  higher  than  is  paid  for  coal 
in  Japan;  hence  foreign  steamers  buy  only  as 
much  as  their  immediate  necessity  may  require. 

As  this  coal-mine  is  entirely  a  surface  mine, 
it  is  not  very  difficult  to  make  an  estimate  of  the 
total  quantity  of  coal  it  may  be  expected  to 
yield,  and  this  is  now  found  to  be  by  no  means 
as  inexhaustible  as  the  early  official  reports  rep- 
resented it  to  be.  The  mines  were  at  first 
leased  to  a  company.  Under  the  terms  of  the 
lease  this  company  was  allowed  to  employ  four 
hundred  hard-labour  convicts  (Katorjriki)  at 
fixed  wages,  and  was  bound  to  supply  to  the 
ships  of  the  Russian  Government  a  given  quan- 
tity per  annum  at  specified  rates. 

Strange  to  say,  this  arrangement  was  un- 
satisfactory to  the  convicts;  further,  it  was  unre- 
316 


The  Coal-Beds  of  Sakhalin 

munerative  to  the  contractors.  After  two  or 
three  years  the  agreement  was  cancelled,  and 
from  that  time  the  mines  have  been  worked 
directly  by  the  Government. 

The  total  quantity  of  coal  remaining  in  these 
mines  is  now  said  not  to  exceed  about  eighty 
thousand  tons,  and,  as  useful  labour  for  the 
convicts  is  so  hard  to  find,  the  daily  output  is 
kept  down  to  the  minimum  requirement. 

The  relative  value  of  this  coal  is  likely  to  be 
diminished  in  the  future  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
prosecution  of  cuttings  for  that  part  of  the 
trans-Siberian  railway  which  is  to  run  between 
the  Usuri  valley  and  Vladivostok  other  coal  de- 
posits have  been  found,  which  are  said  to  be  both 
larger  in  quantity  and  better  in  quality  than 
those  in  Sakhalin.  As  these  newly  discovered 
deposits  are  alongside  the  railway  running  into 
its  near  eastern  terminus  at  Vladivostok,  the 
present  headquarters  of  the  Russian  Asiatic 
Squadron  and  the  only  safe  harbour  for  foreign 
shipping  in  that  entire  region,  the  demand  upon 
the  coal-mines  of  Dui  is  likely  to  become  ex- 
ceedingly small. 

The  iron-mines  near  Alexandrovsk  are  also 
on  the  west  coast,  and  over  a  hundred  miles  to 
the  north  of  Dui.  The  early  official  reports  on 
these  prospective  mines  were  of  the  same  en- 
thusiastic kind  as  those  about  the  coal-mines  of 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Dui.  These  iron-mines,  like  the  coal-mines, 
were  also  worked  by  contractors  for  two  or 
three  years,  and  like  them  were  also  relinquished 
and  have  since  been  irregularly  worked  directly 
by  the  Government.  I  have  not  seen  these 
mines,  but  I  was  told  by  officers  who  had  been 
on  duty  there  that  both  as  to  quantity  and  quali- 
ty these  iron-mines,  from  which  so  much  was  at 
first  expected,  had  turned  out  to  be  much  more 
disappointing  than  the  coal-mines. 

The  question  of  the  agricultural  capacity  of 
the  island  is  a  large  one,  and  any  answer  which 
may  be  given  must  naturally  include  a  good 
deal  of  speculation,  except  as  it  may  apply  to 
such  areas  as  have  come  under  actual  obser- 
vation. 

^  In  1 88 1  there  was  no  Department  of  Agri- 
culture in  the  Administration  of  Sakhalin,  nor 
had  any  definite  lines  been  laid  down  on  which 
to  attempt  its  development.  At  that  early  pe- 
riod of  its  fixed  occupation  by  Russia,  the  St. 
Petersburg  Academy  of  Sciences  sent  out  Mr. 
Polyakoff  to  Sakhalin,  and  his  report  to  that 
society  was  in  many  respects  sufficiently  in  con- 
trast to  the  official  reports  made  by  Government 
officers  between  i860  and  1867  to  create  con- 
siderable surprise  and  disappointment. 

Mr.  Polyakofif  said  that  "  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal valleys  is  inclosed  by  hills,  which  are  both 

318 


The  Soil  of  Sakhalin 

too  steep  and  too  barren  to  justify  attempts  at 
cultivation.  The  bottom  of  the  valley  has  but 
a  thin  coating  of  arable  soil,  having  clay  for  sub- 
soil, making  the  whole  exceedingly  marshy. 
One  may  walk  upon  it  without  sinking  very 
deeply  in  the  mud,  but  it  is  intersected  by 
peat  moors  and  deep  marshes.  .  .  .  Nowhere 
is  the  ground  fit  for  agriculture.  ...  It  mostly 
resembles  the  worst  parts  of  Olonets,  with  this 
difference:  that  even  in  the  forest  it  is  often  cov- 
ered with  pools  of  water.  Even  the  kind  of 
cultivation  which  is  carried  on  in  Olonets  by 
means  of  clearing  and  burning  the  forests  is 
rendered  impossible  by  the  marshy  ground  of 
the  forests  themselves.  In  the  vicinity  of  Dui 
these  conditions  render  agriculture,  and  garden- 
ing almost  impossible.  The  few  patches  of  better 
land  occasionally  met  with  higher  up  the  valley 
are  already  under  cultivation.  The  small  settle- 
ments of  Rykovo  and  Malo-Tymovskaya  are  the 
most  appropriate  spots  for  agriculture  on  all  the 
island,  but  even  here  has  to  be  maintained  the 
same  struggle  against  nature.  Oats  do  not 
ripen  there,  and  only  barley  can  be  grown  suc- 
cessfully. As  to  the  roads  which  connect  these 
settlements,  they  are  simply  impassable.  Tracks 
have  been  cut  through  the  forests,  but  horses 
sink  in  the  marshes.  Much  hope  had  been 
placed  also  in  the  valley  of  the  Tym,  which  con- 
319 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tinues  the  Alexandrovsk  valley  to  the  northeast 
and  rea-ches  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk.  But  its  marshy 
soil,  and  still  more  the  cold  and  fogs  of  the  Sea 
of  Okhotsk,  render  agriculture  quite  impossible 
in  this  valley  except  at  its  upper  end.  Its  vege- 
tation is  sub-polar;  and  on  the  sea-coast  it  has 
all  the  characters  of  the  Tundra. 

"  If  later  on  a  few  spots  available  for  or- 
chards and  corn-fields  can  be  found  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Tym  after  a  careful  search,  it  would 
be  advisable  to  await  the  results  obtained  in  the 
already  existing  settlements  before  creating  new 
ones.  All  the  more  so,  as  great  difficulty  is 
already  experienced  in  supplying  these  settle- 
ments with  food,  and  as  there  is  already  a  seri- 
ous lack  of  provisions  in  the  colony. 

"  As  to  the  hope  entertained  by  creating  vil- 
lages at  the  mouth  of  the  Tym,  it  would  be  a 
delusion  to  entertain  it,  as  this  is  a  region  of 
Tundras  and  polar-birch." 

An  Italian,  Dr.  Petri,  writing  in  the  Jahres- 
bericht  of  the  Berne  Geographical  Society  for 
1883-84,  says: 

"  The  whole  colonization  of  Sakhalin  is  a  big 
lie  circulated  by  the  authorities."  He  claims 
that,  while  the  local  authorities  show  on  paper 
that  there  are  2,700  acres  under  cultivation, 
the  survey  of  M.  Karaulovski  has  shown  that 
only  1,375  are  cultivated;  that  the  700  families 
320 


The  Soil  of  Sakhalin 

of  hard-labour  convicts  who  were  promised 
twenty  acres  of  arable  soil  per  male  soul,  have 
succeeded  in  clearing  less  than  two  acres  per 
family;  that,  in  conclusion,  the  island  is  quite 
unfit  for  agriculture,  and  that  the  Government 
has  been  induced  to  take  this  mistaken  step  by 
the  false  reports  of  people  interested  in  the  un- 
dertaking. 

These  views  of  Mr.  Polyakoff  and  Dr.  Petri 
I  have  taken  partly  from  the  original  publica- 
tions, and  partly  from  transcriptions  by  Prince 
Kropotkin  in  his  In  Russian  and  French  Prisons. 

Although  I  have  no  inclination  to  dispute 
the  accuracy  of  these  impressions,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  they  seem  to  relate  almost 
entirely  to  the  middle  part  of  the  island,  to  the 
north  of  the  Bay  of  Patience,  and  to  a  region 
east  of  Dui  and  extending  northeast  of  Alexan- 
drovsk,  whereas  it  is  the  region  south  of  the  Bay 
of  Patience  to  which  the  attention  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Department,  if  not  then,  is  now  prin- 
cipally directed. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  that  under  any 
circumstances  agricultural  development  has  to 
be  a  very  slow  process,  and  that,  while  state- 
ments by  the  officials  who  have  it  in  charge  are 
apt  to  be  coloured  by  their  enthusiasm,  adverse 
and  irresponsible  critics  are  accused  of  being 
prejudiced.  The  chief  of  the  Agricultural  De- 
23  321 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

partment  of  Sakhalin  told  me  a  great  deal  about 
the  progress  of  the  work  being  carried  on  in 
various  parts  of  the  island  under  his  superin- 
tendence and  guidance.  His  enthusiasm  was  so 
great,  and  the  expectations  he  expressed  were 
so  hopeful,  that  I  was  obliged  to  believe  that 
they  would  not  be  indulged  in  by  such  a  very 
intelligent  man  after  personal  inspection  of  the 
ground  except  for  fairly  good  reasons.  On  this, 
as  on  all  other  Russian  matters,  however,  I  pre- 
ferred the  evidence  which  was  visible  to  my 
own  eyes.  Having  visited  thirteen  villages  in 
this  southern  district  and  inspected  the  farm 
lands  connected  with  them,  my  impressions  of 
them  were  moderately  hopeful,  although  I 
admit  that  they  may  have  been  incorrect. 

In  the  building  of  new  villages,  the  enter- 
prise displayed  astonished  me.  The  quality  of 
the  cottages  is  altogether  better  than  is  found 
in  any  part  of  Siberia  proper  in  the  many  agri- 
cultural regions  which  I  have  visited. 

According  to  the  English  standard,  the  term 
farm  could  hardly  be  applied  to  any  holding  I 
saw  here.  According  to  the  farm  standard  of 
very  many  parts  of  New  England,  however,  as  of 
that  of  the  poorer  parts  of  Virginia  and  of  certain 
emigrant  settlements  in  the  West,  the  so-called 
farms  I  visited  would  be  estimated  "  poor  to 
middling."  Some  of  the  grass  crops  were  lux- 
322 


Agriculture  in  Sakhalin 

uriantly  high,  but  they  were  generally  rank, 
with  a  very  undue  admixture  of  weeds,  and  the 
hay  had  little  fragrance.  During  the  summer 
season  it  was  almost  the  only  food  I  ever  saw 
given  to  the  horses  we  used,  yet  they  certainly 
managed  to  do  as  fast  and  continuous  work  on 
the  roads  as  the  most  ambitious  driver  could 
desire. 

The  grain  crops,  which  were  largely  of  barley 
and  included  some  wheat,  were  everywhere 
thin,  and  in  some  parts  exceedingly  scanty. 

In  the  way  of  garden  produce  I  saw  some 
capital  crops  of  potatoes,  and  in  a  few  places 
some  fairly  good  beet-root.  In  a  few  gardens  I 
also  saw  asparagus,  cabbages,  peas,  French 
beans  and  lettuce,  and  had  the  best  proof  that 
some  of  them  were  as  good  as  could  be  wished. 
Cucumbers  were  in  abundance,  but  not  very 
large.  They  were  eaten  everywhere,  at  almost 
all  times  and  places,  in  the  same  manner  as  other 
people  eat  raw  apples,  and  with  as  much  mani- 
fest relish. 

The  gooseberries,  apples,  cherries,  and  cran- 
berries which  I  saw  were  none  of  them  tempting 
enough  in  appearance  to  induce  me  to  try  them, 
and  if  used  at  all,  it  is  only  to  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent, and  in  the  form  of  conserves.  The  only 
fruit  I  remember  to  have  seen  eaten  uncooked, 
as  I  have  said,  was  the  wild  strawberry.  These 
323 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

were  fairly  sweet,  of  good  flavour,  and  were 
eaten  largely  with  or  without  cream — with  it  by 
those  who  had  it,  without  it  by  others  who  gen- 
erally used  a  little  sugar  only. 

The  cultivated  portions  of  land  were  gener- 
ally of  small  area,  and  far  apart.  The  general 
appearance  of  the  soil  gave  me  the  impression 
that  it  was  clayey  and  poor.  Nowhere  did  I 
see  the  smallest  patch  of  land  which  looked  dark, 
rich,  and  fertile. 

So  far  as  I  could  discover,  such  a  thing  as 
fertilizing  is  never  thought  of  by  the  occupiers 
of  the  land.  The  Bureau  of  Agriculture  has  a 
thoroughly  trained  and  scientific  officer  at  its 
head,  who  told  me  that,  although  no  question 
of  that  kind  escapes  his  consideration,  he  has 
perpetually  to  be  struggling  between  limited  re- 
sources and  the  sluggish  stupidity  of  the  con- 
vict cultivators. 

It  is  certainly  not  in  the  quality  of  the  soil 
as  I  saw  it,  that  an  argument  could  have  been 
found  for  the  colonization  of  this  island,  yet  I 
am  bound  to  admit  that  I  have  seen  other  places 
with  a  soil  not  much  better  which  have  been 
colonized  with  great  ultimate  success.  Of  this 
it  would  be  difficult  to  mention  instances  more 
conspicuous  than  some  parts  of  the  New  Eng- 
land States.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  who  landed 
on  Plymouth  Rock  had  for  soil  little  else  than 
3^4 


Agriculture  in  Sakhalin 

the  thin  covering  of  other  rocks  farther  inland, 
the  poverty  of  the  region  being  ever  since  his- 
torically notorious.  Yet  the  success  of  the  col- 
onization of  that  region  has  been  quoted  as 
almost  beyond  parallel. 

Very  large  proportions  of  Norway  and  Swe- 
den, and  even  of  Scotland,  are  but  little  better 
suited  to  agriculture  so  far  as  the  soil  is  con- 
cerned, and  the  same  might  also  be  said  about 
Newfoundland.  In  order,  therefore,  to  main- 
tain the  alleged  impossibility  of  a  successful 
colonization  of  Sakhalin,  certain  reasons  must 
be  adduced  other  than  those  relating  merely  to 
the  general  poverty  of  its  soil.  From  what  I 
have  seen  of  the  success  already  attained  there, 
it  struck  me  that  stock-raising  might  be  carried 
on  to  an  extent  vastly  beyond  what  has  yet 
been  attempted. 

Indisputably  the  real  wealth  of  Sakhalin 
should  be  sought  in  its  surrounding  waters,  in 
which  the  fish  are  perhaps  more  abundant  than 
in  any  other  waters  on  the  face  of  the  globe, 
except  at  some  parts  of  the  east  coast  of  Kam- 
chatka. 

On  the  east  coast  of  Sakhalin  whales  con- 
tinue to  be  very  numerous,  notwithstanding  the 
reports  to  the  contrary  which  I  have  seen,  while 
a  little  farther  south  throughout  the  Perouse 
Strait,  and  also  up  along  the  coast  on  the  west, 
325 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

salmon-trout  and  herring  are  so  numerous  that 
at  times  it  has  seemed  as  if  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  drop  a  stone  overboard  without  striking 
some  of  them.  On  several  occasions  I  have 
fished  with  a  net  from  the  little  wooden  pier  at 
Korsakoffsk,  and  had  it  fairly  well  filled  as  fast 
as  I  could  haul  it  up  and  lower  it  again. 

Right  in  sight  of  the  eastern  shore  large- 
sized  steamers  from  distant  countries  can  be 
seen  reaping  rich  harvests  of  whale  and  other 
fish,  while  the  oiBcials  stationed  there  as  resi- 
dents simply  look  on,  contenting  themselves 
with  merely  taking  catches  enough  for  the  pres- 
ent and  winter  use  of  their  immediate  locality, 
including  the  supply  for  the  draught  dogs, 
which  eat  nothing  but  fish  all  the  year  round. 
It  seemed  to  me  that,  if  properly  organized, 
fisheries  should  be  made  the  staple  industry  of 
the  colony,  and  that  properly  treated  fish  food 
might  not  only  more  largely  take  the  place  of 
the  meat  used  on  the  island,  but  that  it  might 
also  yield  a  large  direct  revenue  to  the  Imperial 
Government. 

If  the  colonists  were  free  Japanese,  instead 
of  Russian  convicts,  this  fishing  industry  alone 
would  certainly  not  only  make  the  island  of  Sak- 
halin self-supporting,  but  financially  productive. 

In  endeavouring  to  account  for  this  appar- 
ent dereliction  and  oversight,  we  are  at  once 
326 


The  Fisheries  of  Sakhalin 

confronted  with  the  specific  and  crucial  imped- 
iment, which  at  the  very  threshold  makes  im- 
possible any  comparison  of  that  which  might 
be  achieved  by  the  present  Administration  in 
Sakhalin  with  what  might  be  accomplished 
under  different  conditions;  with  that  which  has 
been  and  is  accompUshed  in  other  countries 
under  natural  conditions  still  less  favourable. 

Between  convict-labour  conditions  and  free- 
labour  conditions  it  is  impossible  in  any  respect 
to  institute  fair  comparisons.  To  put  convicts  to 
deep-sea  fishing  would  be  to  give  them  wings, 
though  only  of  canvas,  and  with  these  wings  they 
might  fly  to  other  lands,  not  within  the  original 
intention  when  they  were  sentenced  to  Sakhalin. 
This  factor,  which  is  integral,  must,  I  fear,  for 
the  present  at  least,  be  fatal  to  the  use  and  de- 
velopment of  this,  the  most  valuable  of  the  natu- 
ral resources  pertaining  to  this  island. 

From  personal  inspection  combined  with 
further  information  from  resident  officials  on 
the  island,  my  impressions  are  that,  with  a  fine 
population,  Sakhalin  might  become  not  only 
self-sustaining,  but  might  be  made  to  yield  a 
moderate  net  revenue  of  profit  to  the  Imperial 
Government.  During  the  penal  colony  period, 
on  the  contrary,  Sakhalin  will  scarcely  fail  to 
have  annual  deficits  to  be  met  by  the  imperial 
exchequer.  Rapid  and  complete  would  be  its 
327 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

progress  on  the  substitution  or  addition  of  free 
emigrant  labour  on  a  large  scale. 

From  what  I  saw  in  Sakhalin,  it  is  my  im- 
pression that  from  a  purely  commercial  stand- 
point it  would  have  been  for  the  moment 
cheaper  for  the  Government  if  the  larger  num- 
ber of  the  convicts  now  there  had  been  hanged 
where  and  when  they  were  convicted,  as  they 
would  have  been,  say,  in  England.  As  the  civil 
judiciary  in  Russia,  however,  does  not  pretend 
to  the  divine  right  of  of^cial  killing,  the  Crown 
substitutes  the  more  immediately  expensive 
method  of  treatment,  securing  absolute  seques- 
tration of  the  criminal  from  general  society, 
combined  with  continuous  freedom  for  reforma- 
tion, while  his  life  shall  last. 

Regarding  the  primary  purpose  of  Sakhalin, 
its  success  cannot  be  questioned.  The  isola- 
tion of  the  convict  murderers  from  society,  and 
of  society  from  them,  is  perhaps  as  complete  as 
if  the  convicts  had  been  hanged.  The  security 
of  the  coast-line  enables  the  of^cials  to  allow 
more  freedom  of  physical  exercise,  while  the 
road-making  and  development  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  island  provide  useful  occupa- 
tion. The  climate  is  upon  the  whole  healthy; 
and  as  for  moral  reformation,  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  it.  In  all  cases  the  temptations  to 
repetition  of  crime  are  practically  at  a  minimum. 
328 


CHAPTER    XIX 

A   GENERAL    VIEW    OF   THE    SIBERIAN    PENAL 
SYSTEM ITS    AIM 

Any  person  standing  on  the  pinnacle  of 
Anglo-American  twentieth-century  civilization, 
and  looking  down  from  this  lofty  height  upon 
the  outside  of  the  Siberian  exile  system,  hoping 
thence  to  form  true  conceptions  and  to  make 
just  criticisms  of  that  system,  is  morally  certain 
to  fail  in  both  respects.  It  is  only  as  we  ap- 
proach this  question  from  the  inside,  and  from 
the  Russian  standpoint,  that  we  may  hope  to 
succeed  in  either  of  them. 

In  order  that  we  may  comprehend  this  sub- 
ject in  its  evolution,  adaptation,  development, 
and  final  products,  let  us  first  look  at  the  condi- 
tions out  of  which  it  arose. 

Accustomed  as  we  are  to  the  important  po- 
sition now  occupied  by  Russia  among  the  great 
powers,  it  is  difilicult  to  keep  in  mind  that  as  a 
civilized  nation  she  is  yet  only  in  her  infancy; 
that  only  a  little  more  than  nine  hundred  years 
ago  her  Emperor  (Vladimir)  was  notorious  for 
329 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

his  wholesale  human  sacrifices  to  his  god 
Peroun. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  monarchs  of 
the  greater  powers  of  Europe  thought  Httle 
more  of  the  Czar  of  Russia  than  we  think  of  an 
African  potentate,  and  so  late  as  1735  it  was 
possible  for  Lord  Bolingbroke,  in  his  Letters  on 
History,  to  write  as  he  did  that  ''  the  history  of 
the  Muscovites  has  no  relation  to  the  knowl- 
edge which  a  practical  English  statesman  ought 
to  acquire." 

In  the  year  1700  the  present  capital  of  this 
Empire  had  no  existence  whatever,  and  the 
land  on  which  it  was  decided  to  erect  it  had 
but  just  before  belonged  to  a  foreign  power. 
Yet  this  was  the  first  port  through  which  Euro- 
pean civiHzation  could  begin  to  enter  the  Em- 
pire. 

The  recognition  of  Russia  by  the  great 
powers  as  one  of  their  number  did  not  occur 
until  so  late  as  18 14,  when  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der, at  the  head  of  his  troops,  marched  into 
Paris  as  one  of  the  allied  conquerors. 

The  present  so-called  civilization  in  Russia 
is  not  of  Russia.  It  is  yet  new.  It  is  for- 
eign. It  has  never  yet  become  amalgamated 
into  the  life  of  the  masses  throughout  the  Em- 
pire. Unlike  some  other  nations,  Japan  for 
example,  she  never,  during  a  long  period 
330 


The  Siberian  Penal  System 

of  isolation,  wrought  out  anything  of  her 
own  worthy  of  being  called  a  Russian  civiliza- 
tion. 

One  sufificient  cause  of  this,  and  one  deserv- 
ing special  attention  because  it  was  one  of  the 
root  causes  also  of  the  Siberian  exile  system 
itself,  is,  in  fact,  that  up  to  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  whole  country  was  under  the 
blight  and  curse  of  nomadism.  The  Tartar 
invasions  were  not  by  armies  merely.  They 
consisted  in  movements  of  whole  tribes  and 
their  belongings,  and  these  were  so  frequent, 
and  so  devastating,  that  slaughter  by  fire,  fam- 
ine, and  sword  came  to  be  almost  as  general 
and  as  periodic  as  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the 
resistless  tides. 

The  first  general  change  towards  stability 
was  effected  by  Boris  Godunofif,  by  whose  edict, 
issued  on  the  24th  of  November,  1597,  every 
peasant  was  forbidden  to  leave  the  land  on 
which  that  date  found  him.  By  this  act,  which 
nailed  the  peasant  to  the  soil  and  made  him 
inseparable  from  it,  was  initiated  the  system 
of  serfdom  which  continued  up  to  our  own 
times. 

Our  first  acquaintance  with  Siberia  dates 
from  about  1545,  when  Yermak  Tinofief,  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  Tartar  hordes,  to  escape  from 
the  hopeless  crash  of  the  fire-arms  Ivan  the  Ter- 

331 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

rible  first  brought  against  them,  fled  across  the 
Volga  and  built  a  fort  on  the  banks  of  the 
Irtish,  on  the  site  of  a  native  village  called  "  Si- 
beer,"  since  when  all  the  territory  beyond  the 
Urals  has  been  called  Siberia. 

After  Yermak  Tinofief  had  gallantly  pre- 
sented this  whole  territory  to  the  Czar,  the  won- 
derful fertility  and  mineral  richness  of  the  re- 
gion caused  such  an  inrush  of  immigrants  that 
within  about  ninety-five  years  were  founded 
the  towns  of  Tobolsk,  Tomsk,  Yakutsk,  Irkutsk, 
and  even  that  of  Okhotsk,  on  the  extreme 
eastern  coast,  on  the  shores  of  the  Okhotsk 
Sea. 

In  return  for  his  gallant  generosity  the 
Tartar  chief  and  his  tribe  were  installed  by  the 
Czar  as  administrators  of  the  whole  territory. 

When  Peter  the  Great  came  to  the  throne, 
he  found  that  under  these  Tartar  administrators, 
with  their  incorrigible  nomadic  character,  a 
relapse  had  occurred  so  general  and  great  that 
the  whole  territory  of  Siberia  threatened  to  re- 
lapse and  become  merely  a  useless  geographical 
expression.  He  saw  that  the  only  solution  of 
the  problem  lay  in  colonization.  The  indispen- 
sable factor  was  population.  Throughout  Rus- 
sia proper  the  people  under  the  laws  of  serfdom 
were  immovable.  To  get  a  population  fixed  in 
a  land  where  the  restraints  of  serfdom  were  un- 
332 


The  Siberian  Penal  System 

known,  and  which  was  entirely  free,  his  first  ex- 
periment was  to  export  thither  men  of  other 
than  Tartar  race,  yet  who  were  under  imperial 
control.  Swedish  prisoners  of  war  were  sent 
there  by  the  thousands.  Afterward  Russians 
who,  being  prisoners,  were  under  imperial  con- 
trol, were  also  sent  in  large  numbers.  Thus  it 
was  hoped  to  secure  in  Siberia  the  same  fixed 
population  which  in  Russia  had  been  success- 
fully obtained  by  serfdom. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  first  cause  of 
the  present  Siberian  exile  system  was  Tartaric 
nomadism.  The  motive  was  and  is  coloniza- 
tion. The  object  was  and  is  imperial  develop- 
ment and  extension  by  growth. 

Simultaneously  with  forced  colonization  in 
Siberia,  there  has  always  been  vigorously  prose- 
cuted a  system  of  state-aided  free  emigration, 
with  inducements  so  liberal  that,  under  a 
system  whose  workings  the  author  has  wit- 
nessed with  considerable  admiration,  many  thou- 
sands of  free  persons  go  every  year  from  Rus- 
sia to  Siberia,  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as 
the  thousands  of  immigrants  start  from  New 
York  for  the  more  western  States  of  America. 
The  author  has  seen  one  depot  capable  of 
lodging  five  thousand  of  these  emigrants  en 
route. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  in  the  prosecu- 
333 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

tion  of  Siberian  colonization  by  the  Russian 
Government,  the  forced  colonization  by  prison- 
ers is  its  principal  reliance. 

The  principles  of  the  Siberian  and  Sakhalin 
exile  system  may  all  be  expressed  in  one  sen- 
tence, viz.: 

The  utilization  of  the  prisoner  for  the  high- 
est good  of  the  state. 

Although  simple,  this  statement  of  the  case 
will  be  found  to  be  completely  comprehensive. 
The  system  pretends  to  no  more  than  that,  and 
attempts  no  less.  The  state  does  not  seek  to 
punish  the  prisoner,  but  to  profit  by  him.  The 
segregation  of  the  prisoner  to  the  service  of  the 
state  implies  protection  of  society  from  the 
criminal.  Getting  the  best  out  of  the  prisoner 
of  which  he  is  capable,  implies,  as  in  using  a 
horse,  that  the  prisoner  is  kept  in  fit  condition 
for  it. 

The  production  by  the  prisoner  of  his  best 
possible  output  for  the  state,  implies,  according 
to  the  nature  of  his  being,  proportionately  good 
results,  both  physical  and  moral,  in  himself  and 
to  himself,  so  that,  even  though  he  be  innocent 
of  the  alleged  crime,  he  at  least  may  maintain 
his  self-respect.  Though  the  work  at  which  he 
is  put  be  dictated  not  by  his  special  skill,  but  by 
a  special  need  of  the  state,  he  may  still  be  con- 
soled by  the  fact  that  he  is  at  least  serving  his 
334 


The  Siberian  Penal  System 

country,  and,  as  Dostoyefsky  says,  ''  those  who 
shall  come  after  him." 

In  accordance  with  the  general  imperial  pol- 
icy as  described,  the  minute  the  prisoner  arrives 
at  his  Siberian  destination,  he  is  asked  what  he 
can  do  best.  If  there  is  no  pressing  reason  to 
the  contrary,  he  is  at  once  employed  according- 
ly. If  he  has  no  special  skill,  he  is  put  to  such 
work  as  the  settlement  most  needs.  Or,  if  the 
prisoner  shows  special  capacity,  he  may  be  put 
under  training  in  one  of  the  prison  shops  as  an 
apprentice.  If  during  his  probationary  prison 
period  he  has  commended  himself,  he  is  not 
only  allowed  to  do  the  best  he  can  for  himself 
outside  the  prison  under  mild  surveillance,  but, 
to  get  started,  may  receive  temporary  help  from 
the  officials,  subject  to  reimbursement  at  fixed 
rates.  This  especially  applies  to  agricultural 
labourers,  who  receive  allotments  of  land, 
clothes,  rations,  implements,  cattle,  seed,  etc., 
for  two  years.  This  is  done  systematically  by 
the  state,  not  for  the  good  of  the  prisoner,  but 
for  its  own  benefit. 

Scattered  throughout  Siberia,  in  its  towns 
and  cities,  are  scores  of  millionaires,  the  results 
of  that  system,  and  the  more  of  these  the  better 
the  Government  likes  it,  because  this  all  reacts 
to  the  benefit  of  the  state.  A  judge  in  St. 
Petersburg  or  Moscow,  looking  at  exile  from 
335 


Prisoners  of  Russia  , 

this  point  of  view,  feels  very  little  compunction, 
when  sentencing  a  prisoner  for  a  second  or  third 
offence,  in  sending  him  to  Siberia,  knowing  that 
he  is  probably  doing  thus  the  best  possible  thing 
for  the  prisoner,  and  at  the  same  time  is  saving 
society  from  one  who  would  otherwise  become 
a  habitual  criminal.  The  judge  knows  that  if 
the  prisoner,  as  an  exile  in  Siberia,  does  not 
ultimately  make  the  most  of  himself,  it  will  in 
all  probability  be  his  own  fault.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  when  finally  the  famous  De- 
cembrists received  a  full  pardon,  more  than  two 
thirds  of  their  number  elected  to  stay  in  Siberia 
as  their  permanent  home. 

Under  this  system  the  Russian  Government 
does  not  waste  even  its  murderers,  but,  like  a 
wise  sanitary  engineer  in  dealing  with  sewage, 
protects  society  against  them  by  removing 
them,  and  then  utiHzing  them,  so  that,  instead 
of  loss,  the  state  gets  an  actual  profit.  That 
there  is  punishment  to  the  prisoner  from  first 
to  last,  integral  to  his  segregation,  is  inevitable, 
but  it  is  incidental.  The  effect  upon  the  prison- 
er, knowing  as  he  does  that  this  punishment  is 
of  his  own  procuring,  produces  regret  rather 
than  resentment.  If  he  chooses  to  commit  fresh 
crimes,  he  knows  that  he  may  be  flogged  as 
English  boys  are  flogged  at  Eton.  Further,  it 
must  be  admitted,  this  system  includes  no 
336 


The  Siberian  Penal   System 

ostensible  pretences  to  the  reformation  of  the 
prisoner.  It  simply  puts  him  in  conditions 
which  are  favourable  to  it.  Mental,  moral, 
religious  improvement,  in  the  case  of  the  pris- 
oner as  in  that  of  the  free  citizen,  is  regarded  as 
his  own  affair. 


24 


337 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE    ANGLO-AMERICAN    AND    SIBERIAN    PENAL 
SYSTEMS CONTRASTS 

The  principles  of  the  penal  systems  of  Eng- 
land and  America  are,  in  every  particular,  in 
direct  contrast  to  those  of  the  Siberian  system. 

These  principles  are  expressed  in  one  word; 
that  word  is  Punishment.  This  is  the  one  mo- 
tive, the  one  object.  Worse  still  is  the  fact,  that 
the  means  adopted  to  secure  this  end  cause 
from  the  very  first,  and  at  every  step,  the  deg- 
radation and  damage  of  the  individual. 

With  an  extravagance  which  disregards 
cost,  with  only  a  few  discredited  exceptions, 
as  at  Elmira,  the  structure,  diet,  occupation  in 
prisons,  are  all  adapted  to  this  one  end.  The 
first  step  being  to  make  the  prisoner  a  useless 
creature,  the  next  is  to  compel  him  to  regard 
himself  as  such. 

This  principle  of  punishment,  urged  with  a 

conscientiousness   which    gains   force    from    its 

theological  source,  is  not  wholly  divorced  from 

sentiment.     For  while  in  practice  its  first  effect 

338 


The  Anglo-American  Penal  System 

is  to  extinguish  all  humanity  in  the  prisoner, 
the  prison  regime  always  includes  compulsory 
religious  services,  ostensibly  for  his  salvation. 

In  England,  where  the  state  includes  what 
is  called  *'  the  Church,"  and  every  prison  has  a 
chaplain  of  that  Church  who  holds  ''  compul- 
sory "  daily  services,  the  treatment  of  every 
hard-labour  convict  in  every  model  convict  pris- 
on may,  I  think,  be  sufficient  to  illustrate  my 
general  contention.  In  these,  the  best  prisons 
of  the  latest  model  type  in  either  country,  the 
convict  who,  on  entering,  is  converted  into  a 
numeral,  is  for  the  first  nine  months  in  all  cases 
put  into  confinement  so  absolutely  solitary  that 
up  to  the  end  of  that  period  he  may  perhaps 
not  have  once  heard  the  sound  of  his  own  voice. 
Utterly  regardless  of  trade,  personal  manual 
skill,  or  previous  training,  the  occupation 
assigned  to  each  is  exactly  the  same  for  all. 
It  consists  in  turning  a  self-recording  iron  crank 
in  his  cell  up  to  a  stated  number  of  revolutions, 
the  screw  being  put  on  by  the  warden,  accord- 
ing to  the  desired  hardness.  The  prisoner  is  care- 
fully made  to  understand  that  this  crank  turns 
nothing,  that  it  is  for  punishment.  An  alterna- 
tive punishment  to  this  is  the  bread  wheel.  This 
means  six  hours  a  day  in  a  solitary  compart- 
ment, the  inclined  floor  of  which  is  a  revolving 
wheel — a  misstep  of  the  prisoner  being  at  his 
339 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

own  peril.  The  prisoner  is  made  to  know  that 
this  wheel  turns  nothing,  that  it  is  exclusively 
for  punishment.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this 
routine  might  be  continued  unbroken  for  years, 
or  for  life. 

Another  form  of  hard  labour,  which,  being 
milder,  is  given  to  women  and  is  used  more  than 
any  other,  is  ''  oakum  picking."  Old  tar  rope- 
ends  as  hard  as  wood  have  to  be  reduced  to 
their  original  fibre  with  the  fingers  alone.  This 
labour  would  seem  to  have  a  use,  but  the  prison- 
er knows  that  the  material  is,  at  the  end  of  his 
labour  on  it,  sold  for  less  than  was  paid  for  it 
at  the  beginning;  that  the  work  is  exclusively 
for  punishment. 

The  prisoner  is  not  compelled  to  go  once  a 
day  to  his  solitary  cell  in  church,  but  for  a  refu- 
sal he  receives  a  bad  mark  which  is  equivalent  to 
a  prolongation  of  his  term.  Take  the  original 
ground  plans  of  all  the  prisons  in  England,  and 
not  in  one  of  them,  even  the  latest  and  best,  will 
be  found  structural  provision  for  a  single  school- 
room or  a  single  workshop  other  than  for  do- 
mestic requirement.  Nor  is  there  any  financial 
provision  for  the  employment  of  a  single  outside 
mechanical  instructor.  While  recently  watch- 
ing the  working  of  the  tread-wheel  in  a  cathe- 
dral city,  the  author  asked  a  question  of  the 
prison  governor,  who  replied,  "  Yes,  our  wheel 
340 


The  Anglo- American  Penal  System 

used  to  pump  the  water  and  supply  the  whole 
prison,  but  the  beggars  found  it  out  and  didn't 
mind  it  so  much,  so  now  we  pay  the  water  com- 
pany for  our  water.  We  want  these  chaps  to 
know  what  they  are  here  for  is  punishment. 
The  country  can  afford  it,  and,  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I'll  see  that  they  shall  have  it." 

Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that,  whereas  the  ma- 
jority of  all  the  prisoners  up  to  the  time  of  their 
arrest  were  maintaining  themselves  and  fami- 
lies, from  the  moment  of  their  conviction  the 
country  spends  about  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year  on  their  maintenance  in  idleness, 
for  the  pious  luxury  of  giving  them  their  pun- 
ishment. The  Spaniards,  who  maintain  their 
bulls,  at  least  see  the  sport,  but  the  British  pub- 
lic is  more  easily  satisfied;  the  punishment  is 
solitary. 

It  is  true  that,  to  allay  some  public  discon- 
tent, since  the  report  of  Mr.  Herbert  Gladstone's 
committee,  some  amateur  experiments  by  ward- 
ens have  been  allowed  in  the  employment  of 
some  prisoners  in  making  goods  for  the  War  and 
Post  Office  Departments,  that  a  subordinate 
official  has  ostentatiously  been  denominated  as 
Chief  of  the  Department  of  Industries,  and  that 
for  this  the  prison  commissioners  have  claimed 
excellent  success.  A  very  unsatisfactory  evi- 
dence of  this  so-called  success  is  found  in  the  fact 
341 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

that,  whereas  in  1896  the  net  cost  of  prisoners  in 
prison  was  a  Httle  over  £22  per  head,  it  was  in 
1897,  at  the  period  of  this  alleged  manufactur- 
ing success,  over  and  above  earnings,  £22  6^. 
8c?.,  showing  a  loss  rather  than  a  saving  in  the 
general  result.  Even  in  these  more  recent 
efforts,  as  in  all  others  previously  made,  the 
question  has  never  been  how  to  help,  or  to 
make  the  men  do  the  best  of  which  they  are 
capable.  On  the  contrary,  the  labour  selected 
has  always  been  that  of  the  very  lowest  grade 
obtainable,  and  for  all  prisoners  in  common. 

In  evidence  on  these  points  from  the  near- 
est and  highest  official  authority,  the  following 
short  quotations  are  made  from  the  Annual 
Official  Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  the 
State  Prisons  of  the  State  of  New  York  during 
the  period  of  the  productive  labour  experi- 
ments: 

In  1878:  ''The  increase  of  industries  and 
profitable  forms  of  labour  I  regard  as  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  improvement  in  the  moral 
and  physical  condition  of  the  prisoners  as  com- 
pared with  the  time  when  there  was  idleness." 

In  1879:  "The  number  of  recommitals  is 
now  much  less  than  is  generally  supposed  and 
is  now  gradually  decreasing.  ...  It  is  known 
that  many  who  have  learned  within  the  prison 
how  to  maintain  themselves  by  industries  have 
342 


The  Anglo-American  Penal  System 

abandoned  their  criminal  careers  in  favour  of 
honest  employments." 

In  1883:  ''What  is  demonstrated  is:  First, 
the  productive  energy  and  capacity  of  the  pris- 
oners are  constantly  increasing.  An  enormous 
deficit  has  been  changed  to  a  surplus  of  over 
$54,000.  Second,  the  physical  and  moral  con- 
dition of  the  prisoners  is  steadily  improving. 

"  Third.  The  number  of  prisoners  is  grad- 
ually diminishing,  although  the  population  of 
the  State  is  increasing. 

"  Fourth.  The  discipline  is  more  thorough 
and  easily  maintained,  with  fewer  punishments 
and  penalties. 

"  Fifth.  The  deterrent  and  corrective  po- 
tency of  imprisonment  is  visibly  augmented." 

In  1884:  "  Surplus,  $9,106.23.  The  morale 
makes  discipline  easy.  Of  1,522  prisoners,  only 
8  were  locked  up  for  refractoriness,  and  not  one 
for  more  than  a  day  or  two.  The  physician  says 
that  the  prisoners  feel  the  play  of  moral  forces. 
They  have  increased  self-respect.  Their  obe- 
dience is  cheerful  and  voluntary,  their  physical 
condition  is  most  satisfactory.  The  progress 
during  the  past  eight  years  has  been  beyond 
parallel  in  this  State,  and  during  the  past  fiscal 
year  the  greatest  ever  known.  The  increase  in 
population  has  been  15  per  cent,  the  decrease 
in  convicts  19  per  cent." 
343 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

In  1885:  "  The  amount  of  productive  indus- 
try has  been  in  excess  of  any  previous  year. 
(Surplus,  $73,002.31  for  Sing  Sing.)  Not  for 
many  years  has  there  been  so  small  a  percentage 
of  punishment  for  breach  of  discipline." 

In  1886:  Surplus,  Sing  Sing,  $75,066.22; 
for  whole  State,  $33,647.  "  It  is  an  incontro- 
vertible fact  that  it  worked  out  grand  results. 
It  fulfilled  every  requisite  in  prison  administra- 
tion. It  changed  a  large  annual  deficit  into  a 
surplus.  It  secured  a  high  state  of  discipline, 
health,  morale  in  the  prison  population." 

In  1888:  Prison  industries  were  abolished. 

In  1889:  Deficit,  $369,274.25.  "The  con- 
victs are  immeasurably  worse  ofif  at  present  than 
when  they  could  earn  their  living.  After  this 
grand,  good,  physical,  financial,  and  moral  dem- 
onstration of  the  value  of  systematic  labour,  the 
position  was  abandoned.  The  fiscal  balance  was 
changed  from  surplus  to  deficit.  In  this  the 
criminals  were  deprived  of  the  most  regenera- 
ting remedy  prison  reforrners  ever  found." 

In  1 891:  "Without  productive  labour  there 
can  be  no  reformation  of  criminals." 

The  systems  in  the  United  States  and  in 
England  are  practically  the  same,  each  by  simi- 
lar methods  seeking  two  ends — the  punishment 
of  the  prisoners,  and  the  protection  of  the  pub- 
lic.    Throughout  the  United  States,  partly  in 

344 


The  Anglo-American  Penal  System 

consequence  of  the  dominance  of  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  in  England,  and  partly  through  the  po- 
litical influence  of  rich  manufacturers,  imprison- 
ment implies  forced  pauperization  of  the  pris- 
oner while  in  prison,  and  through  this  secures 
disqualification,  physically  and  morally,  for 
everything  but  pauperism  for  the  rest  of  his  life 
after  his  discharge.  That  this  artificial,  unnatu- 
ral and  unjust  condition  of  things  is  not,  as  is 
sometimes  alleged  in  excuse  for  it,  an  unavoid- 
able one  in  the  treatment  of  convicts,  has  been 
amply  proved  by  the  few  and  fitful  experiments 
in  the  more  natural  and  just  methods  of  self- 
maintenance,  and  the  success  which  has  attended 
them  not  only  in  the  United  States,  but  more 
especially  in  Germany,  as  well  as  in  other  coun- 
tries, including  India  and  Japan,  as  witnessed 
by  the  author. 

From  1 88 1  to  1886  an  experiment  of  this 
character  was  made  in  New  York  State  with  this 
result,  that,  after  paying  all  gross  costs  of  all  the 
State  prisons,  hospitals,  and  lunatic  asylums, 
there  was  a  net  profit  to  the  State  for  that  pe- 
riod of  $33,647.44.  In  1886  the  net  profits  to 
the  State,  after  paying  all  gross  costs  of  main- 
tenance, were  $75,066.22  from  Sing  Sing  prison 
alone. 

For  every  year  during  that  period  the  ward- 
en of  every  one  of  these  prisons  reported  a  cor- 
345 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

responding  improvement  in  the  physical  health, 
discipline,  and  moral  tone  of  its  inmates.  In 
spite  of  these  incontrovertible  facts,  in  conse- 
quence of  subsequent  political  influence  of  the 
kind  I  have  mentioned,  all  this  was  stopped,  the 
entire  system  reversed,  and  the  deficit  which 
the  ratepayers  had  to  meet  in  1897  was,  for 
Sing  Sing  alone,  $174,098.71;  and  for  the  whole 
State,  $561,376.27.  What  were  the  moral  re- 
sults of  this  change?  The  report  of  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Prisons,  William  A.  Lathrop, 
says: 

*'  The  reports  of  wardens,  physicians,  and 
chaplaijis  show  that  the  moral  and  sanitary 
condition  of  the  prison  population  culminated 
in  the  period  when  productive  work  was  most 
regular."  But,  under  the  later  and  present 
methods,  the  annual  State  reports  have  been  of 
an  exactly  opposite  character.  In  that  of  1888 
the  Superintendent  says,  among  his  conclusions, 
"  without  productive  labour  there  can  be  no 
reformation  of  criminals.  .  .  .  For  such  phys- 
ical, mental,  and  moral  well-being  as  is  attain- 
able in  prison  the  continuous  employment  at  la- 
bour of  prisoners  is  necessary."  In  1891  the 
warden  of  Clinton  Prison  reported  that  under 
the  later  conditions  of  forced  idleness  or  labour 
of  an  unproductive  character,  "  it  required  tact 
and  patience  to  avert  unpleasant  consequences." 
346 


The  Siberian  Penal  System 

Bad  health,  debased  morals,  more  frequent 
insanity,  and  sometimes  suicide,  are  quoted  as 
recognised  and  direct  results  of  a  return  to  the 
punishment  policy  at  the  money  cost  above 
stated. 

These   Principles  and   Systems  tested   by 
THEIR  Results  and  Products 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  author  has  not 
attempted  to  deny  the  alleged  cruelties  incident 
to  the  Siberian  exile  system  due  to  maladminis- 
tration. To  have  done  so  would  have  meant 
endless  and  fruitless  disputation.  Knowing  how 
much  in  all  the  public  departments  the  Russian 
official  has  shown  a  genius  for  maladministra- 
tion, knowing  from  personal  observation  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  which  even  in  well- 
equipped  armies  attend  the  movements  of  large 
bodies  of  men  over  long  distances,  familiar  with 
the  isolation,  the  necessary  absolutism  which  has 
pertained  to  Siberian  penal  colonization,  the 
author  repeats,  what  he  has  previously  admitted, 
that  at  one  time  or  another  almost  anything 
may  have  been  possible.  Much  that  was  un- 
avoidable, such  as  even  in  free  conditions 
marked  the  frightful  history  of  the  earlier  col- 
onization of  California  and  the  far  western 
American  States,  may  have  happened;  much 
may  have  been  due  to  official  neglect,  wanton- 
347 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

ness,  greed,  and  despotism,  resulting  in  an  incal- 
culable aggregate  of  human  suffering.  For  the 
sake  of  the  argument  let  us  admit  that  all  the 
past  allegations  of  cruelty,  including  those  made 
by  dramatists,  novelists,  poets,  convicts,  exiles, 
and  travellers,  are  true,  every  word  of  them. 
The  contention  of  the  author,  however,  is  that 
these  things,  so  far  as  true,  have  been  incidents 
arising  from  the  maladministration  of  the  sys- 
tem. They  have  formed  no  integral  part  of  that 
system  itself.  It  was  not  for  these  cruelties  that 
the  system  existed.  They  must  be  regarded  as 
accidents  arising  out  of  conditions  which  happily 
are  improving  and  can  never  be  repeated  in  Hke 
proportions.  Thus  much  for  the  principles  of 
the  Siberian  system,  about  which  there  can  be 
no  dispute,  and  for  any  of  the  principles  of  the 
English  and  American  systems,  about  which 
also  there  can  be  no  dispute.  Let  us  inquire 
now  into  the  main  results  of  these  respective 
principles.  We  have  examined  the  trees,  let  us 
now  look  at  the  fruits  they  have  yielded. 

One  of  the  net  products  of  the  Siberian  sys- 
tem first  mentionable  is  Sakhalin  itself,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  book. 

So  late  as  1850  it  was  so  little  known  that 
a  British  map  made  it  a  promontory.  This 
island,  which  is  as  long  as  England,  and  which 
in  1875  was  without  an  acre  of  cultivation,  has 

348 


The  Siberian  Penal  System 

by  this  system  been  redeemed  from  barbarism, 
has  its  imports  not  only,  but  its  exports;  its 
Christian  churches,  its  clergy,  with  an  archi- 
mandrite at  their  head  During  1890  and  in 
1896  the  author  saw  not  only  specimens  of  its 
various  new  products,  but  a  variety  of  finished 
manufactures,  including  ornamental  wrought- 
iron  work,  and  inlaid  cabinet  work,  equal  to 
much  that  is  made  in  Paris.  All  this  within 
twenty  years  of  its  coming  exclusively  under 
the  Siberian  exile  system. 

Of  all  the  achievements  of  this  twentieth 
century,  that  which  has  perhaps  most  excited 
the  surprise,  admiration,  and  envy  of  the  other 
nations  of  Europe,  has  been  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railway,  the  mere  prestige  of  which,  even  in 
advance  of  its  completion,  enabled  Russia  to 
assume  an  unlooked-for  domination  in  the  far- 
ther Orient. 

It  has  been  previously  shown  how  the  col- 
onization of  Siberia  was  possible  in  no  other 
way  but  by  the  Siberian  exile  system.  It  may 
now  be  pointed  out  that  it  was  only  by  means 
of  the  preliminary  colonization  by  this  system 
that  the  building,  maintenance,  and  working 
of  this  road  could  possibly  have  been  made  prac- 
ticable. 

Hence,  the  Trans-Siberian  Railroad  itself, 
and  the  imperial  territorial  extension  recently 
349 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

incident  to  it,  may  fairly  be  adduced  as  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  Siberian  exile  system. 

It  is  further  worthy  of  note  that  this  un- 
equalled area  of  Siberia,  with  its  numerous  abo- 
riginal tribes,  has  from  the  beginning  and  until 
now  been  held  and  kept  intact  without  the  loss 
of  one  imperial  soldier  by  war.  Bearing  in  mind 
the  extent  and  steady  extension  of  this  terri- 
tory, this  fact  may  be  regarded  as  one  entirely 
without  parallel.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
this  fact  also  has  been  largely  due  to  the  Sibe- 
rian exile  system,  and  to  the  noiseless,  quiet  way 
in  which  the  penal  colonies  have  occupied  the 
land  they  had,  and  crept  forward,  absorbing  that 
which  lay  next  beyond. 

The  After  Results  and  Products  of  the 
Principles  in  the  American  and  Eng- 
lish Penal  Systems 

Taking  Sing  Sing  Prison,  New  York,  as  one 
of  the  very  highest  repute  of  its  type  in  any  part 
of  the  United  States,  it  has  been  shown  that  its 
most  conspicuous  product  was  for  the  year  1897 
a  deficit  for  the  ratepayer  of  $174,098.71,  while 
for  the  whole  State  of  New  York  there  was  a 
deficit  of  $516,376.27  as  the  cost  of  punish- 
ment, with  not  a  single  pleasing  product  to 
which  we  can  point  as  an  offset. 

This  deficit  is  but  the  first  cost  of  punish- 
350 


The  Anglo-American  Penal  System 

ment.  It  is  computed  that  the  ex-prisoners — 
who,  by  the  perniciousness  of  the  prison  system, 
have,  after  their  first  discharge,  become  habit- 
ual paupers  or  criminals — directly  or  indirectly 
cost  the  State,  when  out  of  prison,  about  eight 
times  as  much  as  their  maintenance  when  in 
prison;  and  that  this  annual  outside  cost  is  yearly 
increasing  is  officially  acknowledged. 

This  is  a  black  picture,  yet  beyond  it,  but 
for  the  few  reformations  which  do  not  come 
under  our  category,  there  is  no  other  product 
to  which  we  can  point  in  return  for  the  prodig- 
ious outlay  on  organized  human  torture. 

In  England,  under  these  principles,  the  first 
conspicuous  product  is  again  a  corresponding 
deficit,  the  annual  net  cost  of  punishing.  This 
averages  about  £500,000  per  annum.  This  is 
the  first  cost  for  maintaining  about  20,000  pris- 
oners in  prison.  The  next  larger  and  much 
more  significant  product  is  a  deficit  cost  of 
about  four  millions  sterling.  This  is  what  it 
costs  to  look  after  the  21,000  graduates  from 
the  prisons,  known  as  habitual  criminals.  Such 
is  the  certainty  of  the  moral  degradation  from 
the  first  imprisonment,  that  a  parliamentary  re- 
port of  1895  states  as  follows: 

''  The  proportion  of  reconvictions  during  the 
past  twenty  years  has  constantly  increased.  Of 
those  convicted  a  second  time  48  per  cent  re- 
351 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

turn  again;  a  third  time,  64  per  cent;  a  fifth,  79 
per  cent,  and  the  old  offender  is  constantly  re- 
turning." 

The  author  himself  was  in  one  prison  in 
which  one  prisoner  was  serving  his  two  hundred 
and  eightieth  sentence,  and  in  another  where  a 
prisoner  was  serving  his  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
seventh  term  of  imprisonment. 

The  total  deficit  to  the  Government  on  ac- 
count of  criminals  is  estimated  at  ten  millions 
sterling  per  annum. 

The  reformatories  cost  rather  less  per  head 
than  the  prisons.  Of  those  discharged  from  the 
reformatories  only  about  14  per  cent  ever  re- 
lapse. Of  those  discharged  from  the  prisons, 
more  than  50  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  be- 
come habitual  criminals,  and  never  again  rise 
above  that  condition.  It  is  this  habitual  crimi- 
nal class  which  is  of  all  others  the  worst  direct 
product  of  this  prison  punishment  system,  and 
which  presents  one  of  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems with  which  the  nation  has  to  deal.  This 
holds  in  both  countries,  England  and  America 
alike.  It  should  excite  no  surprise,  however,  as 
this  is  exactly  the  result  for  which  the  whole 
system  is  adapted.  Convert  a  man  into  a  wild 
beast — when  released  his  only  resource  is 
plunder. 

After  a  careful  inspection  of  these  systems 
352 


The  Anglo-American  Penal  System 

where  they  are  practised,  should  the  author  ven- 
ture upon  stating  his  impressions  he  would  say, 
that  in  America  and  in  England,  but  perhaps  in 
England  more  especially,  the  administration  is 
remarkably  good,  the  principles  outrageously 
inhuman  and  bad.  In  the  Siberian  system  the 
administration  has  rarely  been  good  and  fre- 
quently has  been  outrageously  bad,  but  as  re- 
gards the  general  principles  of  the  Siberian  sys- 
tem, they  are  in  accordance  with  the  constitu- 
tion of  man,  of  laws  both  natural  and  revealed, 
and  are  therefore  exceedingly  good;  and  the  re- 
spective results  go  to  establish  this  conclusion. 


«5 


353 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE  UNIVERSAL  APPLICATION   OF  THE  SIBERIAN 
SYSTEM 

Although  the  facts  submitted  show  that, 
upon  the  whole  and  in  the  long  run,  the  Sibe- 
rian exile  system  has  been  working  out  incal- 
culable advantage  to  the  Russian  Empire,  and 
that,  through  the  quicker  transit  across  the 
world,  the  Siberian  Railway  resulting  from  this 
system  is  conferring  a  promised  boon  to  all  the 
nations  and  peoples  of  the  world,  it  may  easily 
be  retorted  in  defence  of  the  contrasting  useless- 
ness,  damage,  and  waste  from  other  penal  sys- 
tems, that  the  other  countries  have  no  Siberia. 

This  retort  rather  augments  than  diminishes 
the  credit  due  to  the  principle  under  considera- 
tion, for  in  no  other  country  can  a  problem  so 
formidable  as  was  the  Siberian  problem  be  en- 
countered in  the  application  of  those  principles. 

The  principle  under  consideration,  which  is 
universal  in  its  application,  is  much  easier  of  ex- 
ecution within  areas  smaller  and  more  acces- 
sible. The  methods  by  which  the  principle  may 
354 


Siberian  System  Universally  Applied 

be  best  carried  out  in  one  country  are  not  for 
imitation  by  any  other  country.  Nor  are  the 
methods  of  to-day  the  best  methods  for  to- 
morrow. 

The  history  of  imitations  of  penal  methods, 
different  countries  trying  to  follow  each  other, 
has  been  a  history  of  mistakes.  The  great  need 
has  been  a  central  principle  of  universal  applica- 
tion. This  principle  is  here  presented.  The 
methods  of  its  application  must  be  evolved  from 
thejocal  conditions  in  each  case. 

Unity  of  principle,  diversity  of  application 
according  to  local  requirement,  is  the  only  con- 
dition of  successful  solution  of  the  general  penal 
problem. 

As  examples  which  have  come  under  the  ob- 
servation of  the  author  at  different  times  may 
be  mentioned,  the  penal  farm  lands  in  Yezo, 
Japan,  the  carpet  factories  in  India,  the  agricul- 
tural industries  in  Holland,  the  iron  and  other 
industries  in  Moscow,  the  thirty-three  separate 
trades  in  one  prison  in  Germany,  the  twenty- 
two  trades  in  operation  in  one  prison  in  Bel- 
gium, and  even  the  scavenging  work  in  Havana. 

In  all  these  institutions  the  methods,  though 
so  diverse,  offer  illustrations  of  the  best  local  ex- 
•pression  of  the  common  principle  of  the  utili- 
zation of  the  prison  for  the  highest  good'  of  the 
state,  even  though  the  ofificials  concerned  were 

355 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

in  many  cases  unconscious  of  the  formula  as 
here  expressed. 

As  preliminary  to  all  considerations  for  the 
prevention  of  crime  or  the  treatment  of  crimi- 
nals, it  is  important  that  we  cease  to  think  of 
them  as  a  separate  and  different  class  of  beings, 
but  regard  each  prisoner  as  a  person  who  is  one 
of  ourselves. 

Through  the  public  schools,  or  otherwise, 
everybody  should  in  advance  know  that  it  is  a 
primary  penal  principle  that  whoever  elects  to 
commit  a  crime  must  pay  for  it,  and  that  the 
personal  earnings  prior  to  release  must  at  least 
cover  the  cost  of  arrest,  conviction,  and  main- 
tenance. As  a  general  basis  of  punishment  this 
would  be  easily  understood,  the  equity  of  it 
would  promote  general  respect  for  the  laws,  and 
the  warning  would  be  both  wholesome  and 
timely  for  the  prevention  of  first  offences. 

No  able-bodied  prisoner  should  have  any- 
thing which  he  has  not  earned.  Every  prison 
should  be  a  place  in  which  the  prisoner  sent 
to  it  can  best  serve  some  present  need  of  the 
state,  or  can  be  made  to  yield  to  the  state  the 
largest  net  earnings  of  which  he  is,  or  can  be 
made  to  be,  capable. 

All  prisoners  who  by  a  given  number  of  con-* 
victions  have  proved  their  incapacity  for  useful 
citizenship  unaided,  should  On  further  convic- 
356 


Siberian  System  Universally  Applied 

tion  be  appropriated  by  the  state  for  life,  under 
forced  labour  conditions  of  mutual  advantage. 

The  punishment  in  this  system  would  be  in 
the  personal  loss  of  Hberty,  the  personal  loss  of 
net  earnings. 

Its  advantage  to  the  state  would  be  that,  in- 
stead of  a  financial  loss,  the  prisons  would  be  a 
source  of  net  profit  for  the  relief  of  poor  rate- 
payers. The  habitual  drunkard  and  the  habit- 
ual professional  criminal  as  a  class  would  cease 
to  exist. 

The  advantage  to  the  prisoner  would  be  that, 
even  though  he  might  have  been  wrongly  con- 
victed, there  would  be  nothing  in  the  life  mor- 
ally degrading,  and  on  proof  of  his  innocence 
his  net  earnings  should  be  paid  to  him.  If 
guilty,  his  time  would  be  spent  in  doing  the 
most  and  best  of  which  he  was  manually  capable 
for  the  state,  so  that  on  release  he  would  have 
the  surest  basis  from  which  to  proceed  to  do 
the  most  and  best  of  which  he  was  capable  for 
himself. 

Moreover,  leaving  prison  as  he  would,  with 
the  feeling  that  he  had  compensated  the  state 
and  had  completely  expiated,  he  could  start 
again  on  an  honest,  self-respecting  basis,  without 
the  self-contempt,  resentment,  or  revenge  en- 
gendered by  unproductive  and  degrading  toil 
devised  for  punishment,  but  felt  as  torture. 
357 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

All  the  statistics  in  America  and  in  England 
show  that  the  model  punishment  system  does 
not  prevent  crime,  but,  by  first  of  all  degrading 
the  criminal,  multiplies,  intensifies,  and  perpetu- 
ates it,  and  so  does  harm,  and  only  harm  and 
incurable  harm,  to  everybody  concerned. 

By  contrast,  the  proposed  penal  system 
based  on  the  principle  of  compensation,  by  deal- 
ing with  the  prisoner  from  first  to  last  as  a  fel- 
low-man, with  manifest  reasonableness,  and  sole- 
ly in  equity  to  the  prisoner,  would,  in  the  whole 
course  of  treatment,  be  integrally  strengthening 
and  elevating.  To  have  served  a  term  in  pris- 
on, instead  of  being  a  permanent  disqualifica- 
tion, would  be  rather  a  guarantee,  at  the  least, 
of  fitness  for  self-maintenance.  The  discharge 
would  be  on  terms  honourable  to  the  prisoner, 
who  would  have  a  fair  prospect  of  a  return  to 
good  citizenship. 

As  regards  prevention,  correction,  and 
future  guarantee,  this  system  of  punishment  by 
forced  compensation,  in  direct  contrast  to  that 
now  in  use,  promises  good  and  only  good  to 
everybody  concerned,  bringing  benefit  to  the 
individual  prisoner  and  profit  to  the  state. 


358 


CHAPTER    XXII 

FROM    SAKHALIN    TO    YEZO 

Owing  to  the  approach  of  winter,  my  time 
for  the  special  studies  I  have  recounted  had 
almost  expired.  I  still  adhered  to  my  original 
intention  of  crossing  the  Straits  of  La  Perouse, 
striking  the  most  northerly  point  of  Yezo  at 
Cape  Soya,  and  thence  traversing  the  entire 
length  of  Yezo  and  of  the  Japanese  Empire, 
from  the  extreme  north,  finishing  at  Nagasaki. 
Cape  Soya  is  scarcely  farther  from  KorsakofTsk 
than  Calais  is  from  Dover.  Never  was  "  so  near 
and  yet  so  far  "  more  literally  illustrated.  Ow- 
ing to  the  dangerous  nature  of  these  waters  and 
neighbouring  coasts,  as  I  have  described  them 
in  the  Geography  of  Sakhalin,  I  found  it  impos- 
sible to  find  anybody  who  would  undertake  to 
convey  me  across  this  channel.  That  this  uni- 
versal refusal  to  make  the  attempt  was  quite 
justifiable,  is  more  apparent  to  me  now  that  I 
have  read  the  description  of  the  opposite  coast 
by  Mr.  W.  S.  Landor,  whom  I  afterward  met  at 
Hakodate.  Curiously  enough,  it  seems  that  at 
359 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

the  very  time  I  was  trying  to  cross  from  Sakha- 
lin he  was  making  equally  futile  efforts  to  cross 
the  channel  from  the  opposite  direction. 

In  his  book,  Alone  with  the  Hairy  Ainu, 
published  some  time  after  my  own  Life  with 
Trans-Siberian  Savages,  he  says,  in  speaking  of 
this  region  on  the  opposite  coast: 

"  For  thirty  or  forty  miles  as  far  as  the 
Teshiwo  River  the  beach  was  strewn  with  wrecks 
and  wreckage.  Here  you  saw  a  boat  smashed 
to  pieces;  there  a  mast  on  the  shore;  further  on 
a  wheel-house  washed  away  by  the  waves;  then, 
the  helm  of  a  disabled  ship.  It  was  a  sight  sad 
enough  to  break  one's  heart  with  all  the  tragic 
circumstances  it  suggested.  Between  Bakkai 
and  Wadamanai  especially,  I  do  not  think  one 
can  go  more  than  a  few  yards  at  a  time  without 
being  reminded,  by  wreckage  which  is  strewn 
thick  on  the  coast,  of  some  calamity.  A  white 
life-boat,  with  her  stern  smashed,  lay  on  the 
sand  helpless  to  save  and  as  a  kind  of  satire  on 
her  name;  and  at  Wadamanai  a  large  Russian 
cruiser,  the  Crisorot,  dismasted  and  broken  in 
two,  lay  flat  on  the  beach  half  covered  with  sand. 
Her  bridge  had  been  washed  away  and  her  deck 
had  sunk  in.  Some  of  the  bodies  of  her  gallant 
ofBcers  and  crew  had  been  washed  ashore  by 
the  sea.  No  one  knows  in  what  circumstances 
the  ship  was  lost,  but  it  is  probable  that  during 
360 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo     ^ 

the  last  winter  when  she  came  to  her  ill-fated 
end,  her  rigging  and  sails  got  top-heavy  with  ice 
and  that  she  capsized.  Some  of  the  wreckage 
one  finds  on  that  coast  has  been  drifted  there 
from  the  Chinese  Sea  by  the  Kuroshiwa  cur- 
rent; and  then,  owing  to  La  Perouse  Strait  turn- 
ing so  sharply  to  the  east,  has  been  left  on  this 
last  portion  of  the  coast.  Here  and  there  a 
rough  tent  made  with  a  torn  sail,  or  a  deserted 
shed  knocked  up  out  of  pieces  of  wreckage,  is  a 
suggestive  reminder  that  some  unfortunate 
derelict  seafarer  had  suffered  and  striven  for 
life  on  these  forlorn  sands.  An  enormous  quan- 
tity of  drift  logs  and  here  and  there  some  bones 
of  whales  are  strewn  all  along  the  beach." 

After  speaking  of  the  loss  of  the  Ertogroul 
in  a  typhoon  near  Yokohama,  he  says: 

"  Let  us  return  to  Cape  Soya,  where  we 
have  left  the  wreck.  The  rapid  current  which 
comes  through  the  strait  gives  a  horrid  look  to 
the  water,  and  I  have  never  seen  the  sea  look 
so  vicious.  The  natives  of  the  small  Soya 'vil- 
lage told  me  that  it  is  impossible  to  cross  over  to 
Sakhalin,  the  high  mountains  of  which,  covered 
with  snow  and  glaciers,  I  could  see  distinctly. 
[These  were  not  visible  to  persons  in  Sakhalin.] 
The  distance  from  land  to  land  is  about  twenty- 
eight  miles,  but  no  small  boat  can  get  across 
without  being  swamped.  They  told  me  also 
361 


p         Prisoners  of  Russia 

that  often  dead  bodies  of  Russians  are  washed 
ashore,  probably  unfortunate  convicts  who 
found  their  death  in  attempting  to  obtain 
Hberty.  H.  M.  S.  Rattler  was  wrecked  in 
1868  on  one  of  the  numerous  reefs  near  this 
cape,  so  the  record  of  Soya  could  hardly  be 
more  mournful.  In  the  winter  time  this  bay 
is  completely  blocked  with  ice,  but  the  strait 
itself  is  never  entirely  frozen  owing  to  the 
strong  warm  current  from  the  Chinese  Sea, 
which  the  Japanese  call  by  the  name  of  Kuro- 
shiwa. 

"  It  is  from  this  point  that  one  gets  the  first 
view  of  Soya  Cape.  Going  round  a  bay  one 
passes  a  few  fishermen's  houses,  and  on  the 
cliffs  above  them  has  been  erected  the  Silensi 
lighthouse.  I  cleared  the  cape  and  rounded 
the  bay  on  the  other  side,  where  I  saw  another 
wreck  of  a  sailing  ship  dashed  upon  the  rocks, 
making  the  scene  a  sad  one.  I  still  went  on, 
and  went  round  two  or  three  smaller  head- 
lands, when  the  melancholy  sight  stood  before 
me.  This  last  ship  had  her  stern  out  of  the 
waters,  and  a  Turkish  name  was  painted  on  it. 
Her  appearance  also  was  Turkish,  and  I  was 
more  than  once  puzzled  as  to  what  a  Turkish 
ship  could  have  been  doing  in  La  Perouse 
Strait.  .  .  .  The  mission  of  the  ship  in  those 
far-ofY  seas  was  a  mysterious  one.  No  one  ever 
362 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

knew  exactly  whence  she  came  or  whither  she 
was  bound." 

The  notion  that  from  the  shortness  of  the 
distance  on  the  map  I  could  cross  these  straits 
if  necessary  in  a  rowboat  just  as  I  had  once 
crossed  the  English  Channel  from  Boulogne  to 
Dover,  I  found  to  be  quite  fallacious,  and  to  my 
great  annoyance  this  plan  had  to  be  given  up. 
It  was  known  that  there  were  two  Japanese  sail- 
ing vessels  ofif  Kamchatka,  collecting  the  fish 
and  the  Japanese  fishermen  at  the  close  of  the 
season,  in  order  to  take  them  home  either  to 
Yezo  or  Nigata.  Though  no  European  had 
ever  been  known  to  travel  in  one  of  these  ves- 
sels, it  was  thought  that,  if  I  chose  to  rough  it 
in  that  way,  the  Governor  might  make  arrange- 
ments with  one  of  them  for  me,  when,  as  under 
existing  treaty  they  were  bound  to  do,  they 
called  en  route  at  KorsakofTsk  to  make  a  report 
of  their  cargo. 

I  had  not  then  learned — nor  would  it  have 
mattered  much,  I  suppose,  if  I  had — that  in  ad- 
dition to  the  other  dangers  for  saiHng  vessels 
in  this  region,  the  typhoons,  which  at  a  certain 
season  of  the  year  sweep  the  eastern  coast  of 
Japan,  have  an  awkward  way  of  sometimes 
ignoring  the  limits  assigned  them  on  the  charts, 
and  continuing  in  their  destructive  course  right 
up  into  the  Gulf  of  Tartary  and  the  Okhotsk 
363 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

Sea.  Further,  I  was  quite  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  the  typhoon  season  was  just  then  approach- 
ing its  cHmax. 

The  expected  Japanese  brig,  Kaoon  Mara, 
at  last  arrived  in  the  bay  off  Korsakoffsk,  having 
on  board  Matsui  Kaze  Sau  (whose  name  ren- 
dered into  EngHsh  means  The  Song  of  the  Wind 
through  Pine  Trees),  Gobo  Sau  (Five  Islands), 
who  was  the  captain,  and,  what  I  appreciated 
more  than  all  perhaps,  an  interpreter  named 
Wakasumi  Sau,  who,  though  employed  for  his 
knowledge  of  Russian,  spoke  also  a  little 
English. 

Matsui  Sau  agreed  with  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure to  take  me  to  Hakodate  on  the  Kaoon  Mara, 
and  after  a  round  of  festivities  in  my  honour 
by  my  generous  Russian  friends,  the  Governor 
and  his  staff  took  me  aboard  in  the  launch 
about'^ten  o'clock  the  next  night,  that  I  might 
be  ready  for  the  proposed  start  at  daybreak. 

As  they  steamed  back,  the  torches  on  the 
Kaoon  Mara  revealed,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  of  my  receding  friends, 
and  on  the  other  the  forms  of  nearly  a  hundred 
of  my  fellow-passengers  swarming  over  the  little 
deck,  all  Japanese  fishermen,  quite  naked  except 
for  their  loin-cloths.  The  contrast  to  the  fes- 
tivities and  friends  I  had  just  left  was  strange, 
striking,  and  weird,  the  scene  being  strongly 
364 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

suggestive    of   the    deck   of   an    African    slave 
ship. 

The  little  deck  cabin,  at  the  door  of  which 
I  was  requested  to  leave  my  shoes,  was,  in  true 
Japanese  fashion,  covered  with  matting  spot- 
lessly clean.  Excepting  the  little  hibachi,  or 
stove,  it  was  entirely  without  furniture,  and  quite 
free  from  the  ordinary  ship  odour.  Here  Matsui 
and  his  friends,  in  their  simple  way,  received 
me  as  courteously  as  if  I  had  been  a  foreign 
potentate.  After  the  usual  tea  drinking  in  my 
honour,  and  a  good  deal  of  bowing  all  around, 
Matsui  kindly  lent  me  a  new  Japanese  kimono, 
or  robe,  for  my  use  while  on  board,  and  in  the 
morning  I  woke  up  a  Japanese.  The  deck  pas- 
sengers, the  savages  of  the  previous  night,  were 
all  fishermen  from  Yezo,  which  is  to  Japan 
what  Scotland  is  to  England.  They  were  about 
twice  the  size  of  the  more  southern  Japanese, 
magnificently  formed,  hardy,  brave,  thoroughly 
independent,  and  as  courteous  as  princes.  Their 
polar  fishing  season  was  over,  and  as  they  were 
on  their  way  home  for  the  winter  they  were  in 
the  best  of  spirits  and  afforded  me  a  constant 
source  of  interest.  As  many  of  these  men  had 
hardly  seen  a  European  before,  I  was  equally  a 
curiosity  to  them,  and  if  it  is  not  presumptuous 
I  think  I  may  say  that  all  round  I  was  treated 
as  a  sort  of  royal  pet  on  the  ship.  As  for  Mat- 
365 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

sui,  rich  merchant  though  he  was,  he  insisted  on 
my  having  all  my  meals  apart,  as  if  I  were  a 
Daimio,  and  he  himself,  as  his  particular  right, 
prepared  and  served  me  with  almost  everything 
late. 

Soon  after  starting  the  wind  became  so  calm 
that  we  were  flapping  and  tacking  about  at  a 
rate  of  from  nothing  and  less  to  about  two  or 
three  knots  an  hour  for  two  or  three  days,  when 
we  came  within  sight  of  a  nearly  submerged 
reef,  the  black,  jagged  peaks  of  which  jutted 
here  and  there  above  the  water  along  a  line 
about  a  mile  from  shore,  and  which  I  was 
told  extended  parallel  to  the  coast  for  about 
sixty  miles.  The  appearance  of  this  reef  led  me 
to  remark  to  Wakasumi,  the  interpreter,  "  What 
an  ugly  place  this  would  be  for  a  sailing  ship 
in  a  storm!  '*  Indeed,  I  was  so  impressed  by  it 
that  I  went  so  far  as  to  urge  the  captain  to  keep 
farther  out  to  sea  and  give  it  a  wider  birth. 

Within  two  or  three  hours  after  this  remark, 
there  was  a  sudden  change  in  the  weather.  A 
heavy  blow  came  on  from  the  southeast,  which, 
in  view  of  the  coast  formation  to  leeward,  was 
exactly  in  the  most  dangerous  direction.  After 
dark  it  increased  to  a  gale.  Repeated  efforts 
were  made  to  wear  ship,  but  she  would  not  lay 
her  course.  As'the  ship  fell  back  into  the  trough 
of  the  sea  over  and  over  again,  the  rolling  was 

366 


From  Sakhalin  to   Yezo 

most  violent.  Everything  movable,  both  on 
deck  and  in  the  cabin,  shared  the  motion,  and 
when  to  this  was  added  the  general  flooding  as 
an  accompaniment,  I  took  refuge  in  my  top 
berth,  being  able  to  keep  my  place  in  it  only  by 
wedging  myself  on  all  sides  with  all  my  might 
with  head,  feet,  and  elbows.  Between  ten  and 
twelve  the  storm  developed  into  a  hurricane. 
Every  now  and  then  my  good  friend  Matsui 
would  make  his  appearance,  urge  me  not  to 
snore,  and  smilingly  say,  "  Ygroshi,  yoroshi  " 
(all  right),  just  to  give  me  encouragement.  I 
didn't  believe  a  word  he  said,  but  felt  there  was 
no  good  in  making  myself  uselessly  uncomfort- 
able about  it.  If  Lgot  out  of  the  berth,  I  should 
be  up  to  my  knees  in  water,  and  as  casks,  boxes, 
and  all  the  deck  cargo  were  playing  at  nine-pins 
in  the  darkness,  the  chances  were  I  should  get 
my  legs  broken  for  my  pains.  I  had  seen  noth- 
ing of  the  interpreter  after  the  beginning  of  the 
storm,  and  as  I  was  then  almost  wholly  ignorant 
of  Japanese,  there  was  not  a  soul  with  whom  I 
was  able  to  exchange  a  sentence.  Added  to  the 
roar  of  the  tempest,  the  cackling,  shrieking,  and 
yelling  of  the  frightened  Japanese  sailors  was 
simply  fiendish.  Somewhere  about  four  o'clock 
there  was  a  new  sound,  and  a  sudden  change  in 
the  ship's  motion,  which,  as  I  surmised,  signi- 
fied that  the  rudder  and  steering  gear  had  be- 
367 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

come  broken  and  useless.  A  heavy  sea  now 
deluged  me  in  my  berth  and  threatened  to 
sweep  the  after-cabin,  in  which  I  was,  clean 
away.  The  faithful  Matsui  appeared  again, 
but  not  as  before  with  his  cheerful  ''  Yoroshi." 
This  time  he  himself  was  stripped  of  everything 
but  his  loin-cloth,  in  which  was  a  small  bundle 
of  what  I  supposed  to  be  money.  Not  a  word 
did  he  utter  this  time,  but  with  a  sad  expres- 
sion he  vigorously  gesticulated  for  me  to  jump 
from  my  berth,  to  strip,  and  follow  him.  There 
was  no  mistaking  what  this  meant. 

I  can  hardly  attempt  to  describe  the  sight 
which  presented  itself  on  deck.  To  portray  its 
awful  magnificence  and  grandeur,  words  would 
be  almost  useless.  We  were  in  the  midst  of  a 
vast  sea  of  seething  liquid  fire,  which  broke  over 
us  in  huge  waves  and  clouds  of  sparks,  while 
by  the  cold,  bluish  spectral  light  of  the  luminous 
spray,  each  drop  of  which  was  a  spark,  every- 
thing and  everybody  from  end  to  end  of  the 
deck  was  distinctly  though  dimly  visible. 

Holding  on  with  all  my  might,  I  watched  my 
chances,  and  between  seas  crept  along  the  deck 
under  cover  of  the  weather  bulwarks  to  near 
the  deserted  wheel,  where  I  lashed  myself  to  a 
stanchion,  and  crouched  under  the  bulwarks  at 
the  port  quarter.  Here,  between  the  cabin  and 
the  broken  wheel,  I  found  most  of  the  men, 

368 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

who,  with  a  turn  of  a  rope  round  each  in  suc- 
cession, formed  lines  across  the  quarter-deck, 
the  end  of  each  rope  being  belayed  to  a 
stanchion. 

As  each  particularly  huge  and  blazing  wave 
approached,  the  man  at  the  weather  end  of  the 
rope  gave  the  alarm,  whereupon  the  whole  row, 
with  a  yell,  took  a  firmer  grip,  and  bent  their 
backs  to  receive  it.  In  the  intervals  not  a  word 
was  uttered  by  any  man.  The  way  in  which  the 
cackling  and  shrieking  of  these  men  in  the 
presence  of  mere  danger  became  changed  to 
self-containment,  resignation,  and  silence  in  the 
presence  of  what  they  now  regarded  as  certain 
death,  struck  me  at  the  time,  and  impresses  me 
now,  as  subHme. 

So  vividly  was  I  impressed  with  the  awful 
magnificence  of  the  scene,  that,  in  order  to  take 
in  all  I  could  of  it  before  quitting  this  world  for- 
ever, I  hauled  myself  up  as  high  as  I  could, 
partly  loosening  my  hold  so  as  to  get  a  larger 
and  deeper  view  of  the  fiery  gulf  which  yawned 
beside  us  as  the  ship  rose  upon  the  crest  of  a 
prodigious  wave.  I  said  to  myself,  "  This  is  a 
sight  no  man  can  see  and  live.  In  a  minute  I 
shall  be  dead.  I  must  make  the  most  of  this  last 
and  magnificent  opportunity,  even  at  the  cost 
of  dying  thirty  seconds  sooner  for  it." 

Whether   or  not   it   may   seem   strange   to 

-6  369 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

others  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  remember  well  that 
while  crouching  naked  and  half  dead  from  cold 
under  the  lee  of  the  bulwark,  I  recalled  how,  in 
reading  of  shipwrecks,  the  part  which  had 
always  impressed  my  imagination  the  most,  was 
the  critical  moment  when  the  ship  struck  bot- 
tom. I  speculated  on  the  prospects  of  our  doing 
the  same  if  we  kept  afloat  a  little  longer,  and 
wondered  whether  the  sensation  would  corre- 
spond to  the  description.  I  could  not  forget  the 
reef  I  have  mentioned,  and  knowing  that,  with 
the  gale  blowing  in  that  direction,  we  were  prob- 
ably drifting  towards  it,  I  kept  watch  that  way 
with  intense  apprehension.  Here  I  observed 
that,  in  addition  to  the  violent  boiling  commo- 
tion in  all  directions,  our  small  horizon  was 
bounded  by  a  more  fixed  and  unbroken  wall  of 
liquid  fire.  This,  I  felt  confident,  must  be  the 
dreaded  reef  and  must  mean  our  instant  de- 
struction. 

In  a  few  minutes  there  was  a  bump,  a  crash, 
and  a  recoil  which  caused  me  to  lose  my  footing 
entirely,  but  not  my  hold.  This  was  repeated 
three  times.  The  vessel,  though  it  now  rolled 
less,  shipped  seas  heavier,  if  possible,  than  be- 
fore. There  had  not  been  a  gleam  of  hope  for 
hours,  but  if  I  had  indulged  in  the  faintest  glim- 
mer now,  I  should  have  taken  it  as  a  sure  sign 
that  I  was  losing  my  senses.  At  this  moment 
37Q 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

the  faithful  Matsui  was  beside  me,  and  seeing 
that  I  was  almost  insensible  with  cold,  helped  me 
on  with  a  mackintosh  which  I  had  discarded,  and 
brought  me  a  circular  life-buoy,  the  only  one  on 
the  ship.  This  I  passed  over  one  shoulder  and 
under  the  other,  succeeding  with  his  help  in  get- 
ting it  lashed  tightly  in  that  position. 

At  the  risk  of  incurring  ridicule,  I  venture 
to  state  here  a  little  bit  of  experience  which  I 
feel  it  would  be  cowardly  to  omit.  I  noticed 
that  poor  Matsui,  though  perfectly  cool,  was 
rubbing  his  hands  together,  as  Japanese  Bud- 
dhists do  when  at  prayer.  I  felt  inclined  to  pray 
myself,  but  special  answers  to  special  prayer, 
particularly  in  cases  where  the  answer  wished 
for  was  to  be  a  discrimination  in  favour  of  the 
supplicant  for  some  material  bestowment,  had 
long  ceased  to  be  conspicuous  in  my  religious 
beliefs.  To  pray  now,  therefore,  I  thought 
would  be  cowardly,  and  in  view  of  the  utter  help- 
lessness of  the  situation,  I  felt  it  would  be  hardly 
fair — that  I  would  therefore  rather  just  face  the 
situation  consistently.  After  a  while,  however,  I 
came  to  offering  a  prayer,  a  provisional  prayer: 
it  was  perhaps  rather  a  committal  of  my  soul  to 
God  with  an  appendix,  to  the  efifect  that  if  pos- 
sibly expedient,  we  might,  or  rather  perhaps  I 
should  say  that  I  might,  in  some  way  survive 
the  present  peril.  Within  two  minutes  after 
371 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

this  I  saw  Captain  Goto  rush  along  the  deck  be- 
tween the  seas.  With  heroic  effort  he  succeed- 
ed in  climbing  the  foremast,  and  managed  to 
loosen  and  shake  out  the  topsail. 

As  we  were  lifted  up  by  a  huge  wave,  the 
wind,  catching  this  sail,  made  the  ship's  head 
pay  right  round  so  as  to  reverse  her  direction 
exactly,  and,  as  the  wave  passed  on,  we  found 
ourselves  carried  by  it  over  the  reef,  her  bow 
heading  towards  what  we  thought  must  be  a 
more  or  less  distant  shore.  The  violence  of 
this  movement  sprung  the  mizzen-mast,  which 
went  overboard  with  a  crash.  By  the  help 
of  this  fore-topsail  we  were  now  plainly  for- 
ging slowly  along  what  was  no  longer  a  rocky 
but  a  sandy  bottom.  In  this  fact  came  the 
first  gleam  of  possible  hope.  Whatever  hap- 
pened now,  I  felt  that  my  life-buoy  might  keep 
me  afloat  for  at  least  a  little  while.  Directly 
afterward  I  saw  to  the  leeward  my  little  Japanese 
cabin-boy  striking  out  bravely  in  the  trough  of 
the  sea.  Amid  the  foam  of  the  waters  as  they 
dashed  about  him  his  entire  form  shimmered 
with  light  like  polished  silver,  and  even  the  ex- 
pression of  his  face  was  clearly  visible. 

His  position  was  not  much  worse  than  our 

own,  and  was  what  must  within  a  few  minutes 

be  the  lot  of  all  of  us.     Yet,  after  the  immense 

dif^culty  with  which  I  had  just  got  my  life-buoy 

372 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

firmly  lashed  to  me,  it  was  only  after  a  sharp 
mental  struggle  that  I  insisted  on  its  being 
wrenched  off  again  and  thrown  to  the  poor  little 
fellow.  To  everybody's  amazement  he  succeed- 
ed in  seizing  it,  and  was  actually  hauled  aboard 
again.  With  yells  of  applause  several  of  the  men 
instantly  set  to  work  forcing  the  buoy  over  my 
head  again,  and  lashing  it  to  me  more  firmly 
than  before. 

Matsui,  who  succeeded  in  keeping  near  me, 
now  pointed  upward  to  call  my  attention  to 
what  appeared  to  be  an  overhanging  cloud  of  a 
definite  outline,  and  shouted,  "  Yama,  Yama." 
It  was  a  mountain-top  plainly  revealed  through 
the  clouds  in  the  early  dawn. 

But  with  tons  of  water  pouring  over  me 
every  few  minutes,  the  pounding,  the  struggle, 
the  cold  of  it,  which  had  continued  hour  after 
hour,  I  was  so  benumbed  and  exhausted  as  to 
be  almost  apathetic,  except  to  the  irony  of  being 
drow^ned  in  sight  of  land. 

The  next  thing  I  recall  was  a  seeming  con- 
sciousness of  being  dead,  of  having  been  dead 
for  a  long  time,  and  of  being  surprised  how  well 
my  dead  body  floated.  Excepting  my  life-buoy, 
I  knew  that  there  was  nothing  between  me  and 
the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  but  my  attention  and 
my  whole  thoughts  were  now  fixed  on  the  over- 
topping wave  next  approaching,  speculating, 
373 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

wondering,  then  almost  admiring  the  way  in 
which,  instead  of  crushing  me,  it  picked  me  up 
and  tossed  me  on  its  crest.  I  had  for  a  moment 
a  gHmpse  of  the  shore,  thought  I  heard  voices, 
saw  looming  to  my  left  the  stern  end  of  the 
stranded  hulk,  and  noted  how  nearly  I  came 
being  smashed  against  it.  Once  I  passed  be- 
yond it  and  distinctly  heard  tremendous  yelling 
— then  I  was  far  out  at  sea  again.  This  was  re- 
peated again  and  again;  then  came  more  yelling 
than  ever — I  felt  I  was  grappled.  Then  came 
the  greatest  surprise  of  my  life.  I  was  not  dead, 
but  really  alive!  I  was  conscious  of  lying  flat 
on  a  rock,  and  of  excited  men  making  violent 
efforts  to  wake  me  from  what  seemed  a  con- 
fused and  troubled  dream. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  voyage  and 
throughout  that  terrible  experience,  not  only 
Matsui  Sau  and  Goto  Sau,  but  everybody  on 
the  ship,  was  so  devoted,  they  seemed  to  think 
the  ship  and  everybody  else  on  it  had  but  one 
intent,  one  object — myself  and  my  comfort. 
This  devotion  was  now  nothing  less  than  a 
frenzy.  I  knew  that  their  frantic  efforts  were 
fast  extinguishing  the  flickering  spark  they  were 
trying  to  revive,  but  I  could  make  no  sign. 

"  Death  from  Drowning.  We  regret  to 
announce  that,  while  travelling,  in  the  far  East, 
Dr.  Benjamin  Howard,  the  author  of  the  Direct 

374 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

Method  of  the  Resuscitation  of  the  Drowned, 
died  of  his  own  specialty  near  the  Sea  of  Tar- 
tary." 

This  imaginary  notice,  the  oddness  of  it,  the 
irony  of  it,  the  discovery,  which  nothing  but 
this  experience  could  have  given  me,  of  the 
danger  of  excessive  frictions,  I  had  insufficiently 
pointed  out,  all  this  passing  as  if  on  a  screen 
before  my  mind,  stirred  in  me  slightly  chagrin, 
and  slightly  a  sense  of  duty  regarding  this  dis- 
covery. By  a  supreme  effort  I  opened  my 
eyes,  and  made  my  rescuers  understand  that  I 
must  be  covered  up  and  left  for  a  while  quite 
still. 

Shifted  gently  to  dry  ground,  covered  with 
leaves,  a  bonfire  kept  blazing  beside  me,  I  was 
taking  long  breaths  within  an  hour.  I  felt 
dazed,  amazed,  but  finally  convinced  that  after 
all  I  was  really  alive. 

Like  all  semi-nude  peoples,  these  Yezo  men 
had  their  personal  vanities.  One  of  these  was  in 
the  dressing  of  the  hair.  This  was  carefully 
done  in  a  top-knot  such  as  is  represented  on 
some  old  Japanese  screens.  The  other  was  a 
little  ornamental  sheath  fastened  to  every  waist 
belt,  many  of  which  were  of  ivory  beautifully 
carved.  This  contained  a  little  pipe,  and,  for- 
tunately for  us,  a  flint  and  steel  for  lighting  it. 
By  means  of  the  latter  they  quickly  arranged  tp 
3?5 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

make  the  capital  fire  which  they  so  carefully 
kept  going. 

Some  of  the  men  made  large,  cleverly  con- 
structed leaf-huts  of  pine  branches  and  kept 
them  warm  with  blazing  fires.  As  the  sea 
calmed  down,  others  of  the  men,  partly  floating 
and  partly  swimming  on  loose  timbers,  succeed- 
ed in  getting  from  a  part  of  the  Kaoon  Mara, 
still  sticking  out  of  the  water,  enough  provisions 
to  live  on.  What  was  of  most  importance,  how- 
ever, was  the  recovery  of  a  partly  smashed  yawl 
boat. 

Our  situation  was  this:  Where  we  were  cer- 
tain starvation  confronted  us.  Following  the 
Kaoon  Mara,  another  and  smaller  vessel  from 
the  Kamchatka  waters  for  Nigata  was  to  follow, 
and  should  just  about  this  time  be  passing  our 
latitude.  As  with  Asiatics  always,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  Anglo-Saxon,  their  eager  discussions 
as  to  our  future  always  ended  in  ''  What  does 
Howard  Sau  advise?  "  They  all  agreed  with  me 
as  to  what  was  the  only  course.  Working  like 
Titans,  they  succeeded  in  outrigging  the 
smashed  boat  with  timbers  into  a  large  and  solid 
raft.  On  experiment  it  was  found  that  it  would 
carry  three  persons.  It  was  agreed  that  the  mo- 
ment the  weather  was  favourable,  Matsui  Sau, 
Goto  Sau,  and  Howard  Sau  should  man  this  lit- 
tle raft,  and  with  our  mat-sail  push  right  out 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

into  the  open  sea,  on  the  bare  chance  of  sight- 
ing and  intercepting  the  Toyama  Mara,  the  Httle 
schooner  which  indeed  might  already  have 
passed  us. 

The  second  day  after  the  raft  was  completed 
was  as  fine  as  if  it  had  been  created  expressly 
for  our  enterprise.  At  earliest  dawn  everybody 
was  assembled  on  the  beach,  each  trying  to  give 
some  finishing  touch  to  the  raft. 

We  were  shoved  off  in  silence,  broken  only 
by  here  and  there  a  "  saiyonara,"  and  at  a  beau- 
tiful speed  headed  straight  for  the  sun,  just  as  it 
was  rising  above  the  horizon.  Throughout  the 
day  sun,  wind,  weather,  all  was  perfection,  but 
after  nightfall  the  mists  were  so  heavy  that,  in 
spite  of  the  full  moon,  they  might  have  quite 
obscured  again  and  again  any  passing  sail.  The 
dread  of  perhaps  just  missing  our  object,  and 
what  that  would  mean  to  all  of  us,  the  intense 
strain  of  the  watching,  the  solitude,  are  not  for 
description,  but  for  the  imagination. 

In  the  morning  a  tiny  speck  on  the  horizon, 
growing  in  size  and  changing  in  colour,  gradu- 
ally approached  us,  and  within  a  couple  of  hours 
we  were  safely  aboard  the  Toyama  Mara,  with 
our  raft  in  tow,  and  making  direct  for  the  re- 
lief and  rescue  of  the  anxious  survivors  of  the 
Kaoon  Mara.  One  of  the  first  of  those  to  come 
aboard  after  we  cast  anchor  was  my  little  cabin- 
377 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

boy,  who  prostrated  himself  completely  before 
me,  and  clung  to  my  knees  in  his  gratitude  for 
the  life-preserver  incident. 

If  on  the  Kaoon  Mara  I  had  been  treated 
as  a  prince,  the  survivors,  as  they  came  aboard 
the  Toyama  Mara,  treated  me  by  comparison 
almost  as  a  king.  Their  gratitude  and  over- 
crowding attentions  were  positively  embarrass- 
ing and  inconvenient. 

We  lost  no  time  in  getting  away  from  this 
dangerous  part  of  the  coast,  and,  taking  the 
course  between  Cape  Crillon  and  Nosyass,  con- 
tinued southwest  till  we  came  in  sight  of  the 
towering  cone  of  the  marvellous  Kiskiri  Island, 
of  whose  beauty  I  have  previously  spoken.  I 
tried  to  induce  Captain  Amata  Yoshitaro  to  land 
me  at  Obdru,  whence  I  might  go  overland  to 
Hakodate,  but  the  wind,  which  was  most  of  the 
time  S.  E.,  was  thought  too  unfavourable  for 
this.  Ofi  Capes  Shatotau  and  Mota,  we  had 
such  nasty  squalls  that,  to  avoid  being  washed 
overboard,  all  the  men  except  those  engaged  in 
working  the  ship  had  to  take  shelter  in  the 
cabin,  where  we  were  like  herrings  packed  in  a 
barrel.  From  Cape  Ota,  there  was  only  just 
wind  enough  to  keep  us  in  motion,  but  the  cap- 
tain was  little  concerned  about  it,  because  he 
said  that  we  should  in  any  case  soon  be  off 
Nepia  and  Lukuyami,  whence  there  was  sure 

378 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

to  be  a  strong  northeast  current,  which  of  itself 
would  carry  us  right  up  to  Hakodate.  As  we 
had  passed  these  places,  however,  and  were  ap- 
proaching Cape  Shirakami,  hoping  to  round  it 
and  to  enter  Tsugaru  Strait,  we  encountered  a 
furious  gale,  which  towards  midnight  became  a 
regular  hurricane. 

Just  outside  the  mouth  of  the  strait  is  a  vol- 
canic island,  which  presents  nothing  but  pre- 
cipitous rocky  clififs  for  six  or  seven  miles.  Its 
name  is  Kajima  or  Keshuma.  Except  on  its 
western  coast,  not  a  blade  of  grass  grows  on  it, 
and  it  is  the  particular  dread  of  all  mariners 
in  this  region.  The  schooner  partly  rounded 
the  cape,  but  would  not  lay  her  course.  We 
had  gone  too  far  to  put  the  ship  to  the  north- 
ward by  running  before  the  wind;  to  remain  as 
we  were  meant  that  we  should  be  driven  in  the 
darkness  to  leeward,  right  on  to  the  perpen- 
dicular wall  of  rocks.  One  chance  of  escaping 
this,  and  only  one,  remained;  that  was  to  try 
to  keep  the  ship  away,  pack  on  all  canvas  she 
would  carry,  and,  by  going  at  the  fullest 
possible  speed,  try  to  drive  past  and  clear 
the  cliffs  before  the  schooner  could  strike  on 
them. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  exciting  and  danger- 
ous manoeuvres  a  navigator  is  ever  called  to  at- 
tempt, and  is  one  that  taxes  all  the  skill  and 
379 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

nerve  of  the  most  intrepid  mariner  to  the  ut- 
most. 

Early  in  the  evening,  in  view  of  its  being  the 
height  of  the  typhoon  season,  I  had  myself 
urged  the  captain  to  steer  to  leeward  of  this 
island  and  give  it  a  clear  berth  until  the  weather 
then  threatening  had  improved,  and  he  had 
promised  me  he  would  do  so.  I  learned  that  he 
had  afterward  been  overruled,  however,  by  a 
part-owner  of  the  vessel  who  was  on  board  of 
her.  When  it  was  too  late,  the  danger  of  our 
situation  was  fully  realized,  the  captain,  owners, 
everybody  concerned  got  into  a  frightful  panic, 
and  the  vessel  became  a  regular  pandemonium. 
For  myself,  I  was  in  a  state  of  helpless  rage  at 
their  stupidity  and  folly.  In  the  fury  of  this 
midnight  storm,  one  sail  after  another  was 
ripped  into  ribbons,  and  the  gafT  came  down 
with  a  run,  smashing  through  the  roof  of  my 
cabin.  The  topmast  was  now  carried  away,  and, 
judging  from  the  terrific  noise  and  fearful  com- 
motion that  we  were  about  to  strike,  I  tried  to 
step  out  on  deck,  but  found  my  way  completely 
blocked  by  wreckage.  With  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty I  managed  to  get  about  three  feet  from 
the  companion  hatch,  peered  eagerly  leeward, 
and  there  saw  that  within  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
of  us  were  perpendicular  rocks,  the  tops  of 
which  were  at  that  moment  nearly  overhanging 
380 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

the  deck.  There  was  an  awful  suspense  and 
a  dead  silence  during  the  few  moments  we 
grazed  swiftly  past  and  cleared  them.  Then 
followed  a  general  and  audible  sigh  of  relief  at 
this  narrow  deliverance  from  hopeless  destruc- 
tion. 

The  schooner  was  leaking  badly,  but  by  the 
aid  of  the  pumps  we  managed  to  keep  the  water 
under.  With  jury-mast  and  rapidly  patched  up 
sail,  by  slow  and  tedious  tacking,  we  at  last  suc- 
ceeded, on  the  second  night  thereafter,  in  drop- 
ping anchor  ofif  the  fort  at  the  entrance  to  the 
harbour  at  Hakodate.  Amid  general  manifes- 
tations of  relief  and  joy,  we  all  squatted  together 
in  the  cabin  to  a  supper  of  tea,  rice,  and  raw 
fish.  This  being  over,  good  old  Matsui,  though 
now  only  a  passenger  like  myself  in  the  Toya- 
ma,  and  therefore  without  any  authority  on 
board,  brought  out  a  small  portable  shrine, 
lighted  the  little  lamps  on  it,  tinkled  a  little  bell, 
and  from  a  small  well-thumbed  book  proceeded 
to  conduct  a  short  Buddhist  service  of  prayer 
and  thanksgiving.  Every  man  on  board  went 
on  his  knees  and  earnestly  and  reverently  joined. 
Without  any  disparagement  I  think  I  may  truly 
say  that,  of  all  persons,  heathen  or  Christian, 
Matsui,  all  through  these  recent  severe  tests 
of  character,  impressed  me  as  being  the  most 
Christ-like  man  I  had  ever  known.    Though  he 

381 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

did  not  know  the  Christ,  undoubtedly  the  Christ 
knew  him. 

No  company  will  insure  the  vessels  engaged 
in  this  northern  trade.  In  the  sinking  of  the 
Kaoon  Mara,  Matsui  lost  over  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars, nearly  all  he  had  in  the  world,  yet  from  first 
to  last  he  was  the  same — courteous,  calm,  self- 
sacrificing;  he  was  beloved  by  everybody.  On 
reaching  Hakodate,  we  found  that  the  storms 
which  had  struck  us  had  been  the  two  most  de- 
structive typhoons  that  had  swept  the  Japanese 
coast  for  many  years.  In  the  first  the  Ertou- 
groul,  the  admiral's  ship  of  the  Turkish  navy, 
the  officers  of  which  were  fresh  from  an  imperial 
reception  at  Tokio,  had  gone  down  with  nearly 
four  hundred  souls.  Two  large  steamers  of  the 
Nippon  Yusen  Raisha  had  also  shared  a  similar 
fate.  The  second  typhoon  was  scarcely  less  dis- 
astrous, and  several  vessels,  two  of  which  we 
had  sighted  on  the  west  of  Yezo,  were  reported 
as  lost.  To  this  day,  in  certain  weather  changes, 
I  have  mementoes  of  this  frightful  voyage  in  the 
twitching  of  three  ribs,  the  breaking  of  which 
was  but  a  small  part  of  my  own  personal  injuries 
from  it. 

Although  this  account  of  it  may,  I  fear, 
seem  rather  tedious,  I  have  tried  to  confine  my- 
self to  details  having  other  than  a  personal  inter- 
est. It  will,  I  think,  corroborate  what  I  had 
382 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

previously  stated  about  the  natural  difficulties 
of  escape  from  Sakhalin;  it  will  also  bring  into 
view  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  hardy  Yezo 
men,  from  whom  alone  come  the  famous  wres- 
tlers, so  distinguished  and  honoured  throughout 
the  Japanese  Empire,  and  who  form  such  a 
magnificent  reserve  for  the  Japanese  navy. 

The  wonderful  phosphorescence  in  the  first 
storm,  to  which  I  had  once  seen  a  faint  approxi- 
mation in  the  West  Indian  waters,  I  had  thought 
to  be  partly  due  to  the  medusa  or  jelly-fish, 
which  I  have  previously  mentioned  as  so  abun- 
dant in  La  Perouse  Straits.  I  felt  that  even  a 
moderate  description  of  the  vividness  of  this 
phosphorescence  on  my  own  authority  alone 
could  hardly  fail  of  seeming  an  exaggeration  to 
some  readers,  so  I  insert  the  following  account 
from  Lord  George  Campbell's  Log-letters  from 
the  Challenger,  which  will  be  found  to  be  very 
similar  to  my  own  experience  as  I  have  de- 
scribed it: 

"  On  Phosphorescence  of  the  Sea 

"  On  the  night  of  the  14th  the  sea  was  most 
gloriously  phosphorescent  to  a  degree  un- 
equalled in  our  experience.  A  fresh  breeze  was 
blowing  and  every  wave  and  wavelet  as  far  as 
one  could  see  from  the  ship  on  all  sides  to  the 
distant  horizon  flashed  brightly  as  they  broke, 

383 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

while  above  the  horizon  hung  a  faint  but  visible 
white  light.  Astern  of  the  ship  deep  down 
where  the  keel  cut  the  water  glowed  a  broad 
band  of  blue  emerald-green  light,  from  which 
came  streaming  up  or  floated  on  the  surface 
myriads  of  yellow  sparks  which  glistened  and 
sparkled  against  the  brilliant  cloud-light  below 
until  both  mingled  and  died  out  astern  far  away 
in  our  wake.  Ahead  of  the  ship  where  the  old 
blufif  bows  of  the  Challenger  went  ploughing  and 
churning  through  the  sea,  there  was  light  enough  to 
read  the  smallest  print  with  ease.  It  was  as  if 
the  Milky  Way  as  seen  through  a  telescope  scat- 
tered in  millions  like  ghttering  dust,  had  dropped 
down  on  the  ocean  and  we  were  sailing  through 
it.  .  .  .  This  bright  cloud-light  below  the  sur- 
face we  thought  was  caused  by  fishes'  spawn, 
through  a  belt  of  which  we  passed  for  two  or 
three  days;  and  the  sparks  by  the  larvae  of  crabs, 
with  both  of  which  the  towing  net  was  full."  * 

Elsewhere  in  his  Log-letters  Lord  George 
Campbell  says: 

"  At  page  39  I  have  logged  an  unusually 
brilliant  display  of  phosphorescence,  and  on  that 
peg  let  me  hang  some  general  remarks  on  the 

*  A  mistake  discovered  afterward.  As  we  unscientific 
people  have  all  seen  phosphorescence  in  the  sea,  and  have 
all  doubtless  wondered  what  produced  it,  I  have  said  a  word 
or  two  on  this  subject  in  the  last  chapter. 

384 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

subject  as  observed  on  the  Challenger.  Phos- 
phorescent light  is,  as  you  know,  emitted  by 
many  ocean-living  organisms.  Some  larval 
Crustacea  give  out  a  light  from  their  eyes, 
some  copepods  intermittently  from  between 
the  segments  of  their  bodies;  pyrosoma  give 
out  a  steady  lambent  glow;  salpae  also,  and 
medusa,  all  zoophytes  which  live  at  the  bottom 
are  brilliantly  illuminated;  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
fish  of  several  kinds  are  dotted  along  their 
bodies  with  phosphorescent  organs;  while  a  lit- 
tle infusorian  has  been  credited  with  so  great  a 
light-giving  power  as  to  have  won  the  name  of 
noctiluca.  And  that  brings  us  to  a  Challenger 
discovery.  What  was  it  that,  on  the  night  I  have 
mentioned,  was  the  cause  of  that  extraordinary 
phenomenon — the  Milky  Way — the  glittering  dust 
scattered  in  such  profusion  in  the  sea  as  to  literally 
illuminate  the  dark  night  air?  The  tow  net  was 
full  of  little  round  organisms  which  at  first 
glance  were  taken  to  be  fishes'  eggs  or  perhaps 
noctiluca.  But  further  study  showed  them  to  be 
diatoms  undescribed  and  hitherto  quite  un- 
known to  science,  and  so  we  christened  them 
'  pyrocistis  pseudonoctiluca,'  than  which  no  ocean 
living  organism,  whether  plant  or  animal,  is  so 
abundant  in  the  warm  waters  of  the  sea.  Its 
phosphorescent  light  is  emitted  from  a  nu- 
cleus. 

^'  385 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

*'  Noctiluca,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  found 
in  the  open  ocean  excepting  where  the  sea-water 
is  from  river-water  permeation  brackish.  If 
therefore  when  saiUng  over  the  ocean,  particu- 
larly in  the  tropics,  the  phosphorescence  appears 
diffused  such  as  I  have  described,  be  sure  that 
the  bright  cloud-light  is  caused  by  the  diatoms 
'  pyrocistis,'  or  '  bags  of  fire.'  And  if  when 
pulling  over  the  waters  of  some  harbour  or 
along  the  shore  in  whatever  part  of  the  world 
the  oars  drip  showers  of  stars  and  the  rippling 
wavelets  diverging  wide  from  the  bows  reveal 
their  crests  in  running  lines  of  mellowest  light 
as  though  a  reflected  moonbeam  sleeping  had 
been  disturbed,  be  sure  in  this  case  that  nocti- 
luca infusorians  chiefly  are  the  cause,  while  in 
either  case  the  larger  glittering  sparkles  are 
caused  by  larval  crustaceans  flashing  fire  from 
wrathful  eyes,  or  from  copepods  from  between 
the  joints  of  their  bodies.  It  is  only  when  dis- 
turbed that  many  of  these  organisms  give  forth 
their  light-giving  property.  You  may  be  sail- 
ing along  seeing  little  phosphorescence,  the 
crest  of  a  wave  breaking,  a  medusa  floating  by, 
the  sparkles  caused  by  the  friction  of  the  ship; 
but  should  a  dolphin,  shark,  or  porpoise  shoot 
swimming  around  you,  lo!  as  water-fowl  are 
sheathed  in  water  air-bubbles  so  are  the  fish 
sheathed  in  phosphorescent  gold,  cutting 
386 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

through  the  black  water  like  lightning  streaks; 
and  thus  it  was  on  the  night  mentioned.  The 
day  had  been  calm,  and  up  to  the  surface  came 
floating  and  swimming  all  things  that  have  life, 
and  among  these  the  diatoms,  which  happened 
to  be  in  unusual  abundance.  Then  fell  the 
night,  and  with  it  rose  the  breeze  disturbing 
as  does  your  hand  in  a  glass  jar  the  excitable 
organisms,  and  hence  the  wondrous  display " 
(page  501). 

Speaking  of  some  of  these  organisms  in  the 
deep  sea,  Professor  Lars  says  (page  499): 

"  The  light  of  day  does  not  penetrate  to 
these  great  depths,  but  as  a  compensation  there 
is  produced  by  the  animals  themselves  a  splen- 
did illumination  of  the  whole,  inasmuch  as  all 
are  strongly  phosphorescent  or  have  the  power 
to  produce  from  their  bodies  an  intense  light 
by  turns  bluish,  greenish,  and  reddish.  .  .  .  The 
luminous  shark  thus  attracts  its  prey  on  the 
same  principle  as  torches  are  employed  in  night 
fishing." 

Though  only  of  personal  interest,  I  venture 
to  add  one  word  respecting  the  most  critical  mo- 
ment in  the  wreck  of  the  Kaoon  Mara. 

Before  leaving  Hakodate,  I  met  at  Matsui's 
house  Captain  Goto  Sau,  the  captain  of  the  lost 
vessel.    Referring  to  his  daring  attempt,  which 

387 


Prisoners  of  Russia 

I  have  described,  to  get  the  top-sail  unfurled, 
and  what  it  had  to  do  with  shifting  the  vessel 
from  the  reef  on  which  we  were  hopelessly 
impaled,  he  said  that,  on  looking  back,  his  ac- 
tion was  as  surprising  to  himself  as  it  could  be 
to  anybody  else.  The  position  was  one  in  which 
he  had  no  experience,  either  of  his  own  or  of 
others  to  guide  him,  but  the  idea  suddenly 
flashed  into  his  mind,  and  thinking  it  was  the 
last  thing  he  should  ever  do  in  this  world,  he 
made  the  dash  I  witnessed,  which  to  his  own  sur- 
prise turned  out  such  a  success.  "  You  see,"  he 
remarked,  "  I  knew  it  would  be  of  no  use  to 
order  any  sailor  to  attempt  to  do  it,  so  I  took 
the  risk  myself,  and  I  am  thankful  I  did,  because 
but  for  just  that  one  thing,  I  am  quite  sure  that 
within  a  few  minutes  every  soul  of  us  would 
have  been  lost." 

Turning  to  dear  good  old  Matsui,  I  said, 
"  Matsui  Sau,  I  saw  you  pray  to  your  God  just 
before  Goto  Sau  lowered  the  top-sail." 

"  And  you,"  he  said,  "  didn't  you  pray  to 
your  God,  too?  " 

"  Well,  yes  I  did." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  all  same  thing."  Raising 
his  hands  with  the  tips  of  his  two  forefingers 
joined  together,  he  said,  "  Your  prayer,  my 
prayer  come  together  so;  I  Buddha,  you  Christ; 
different  name  but  all  same,  all  one  up  top." 
388 


From  Sakhalin  to  Yezo 

Who  will  venture  to  say  good  old  Mat- 
sui  was  not  right?  and  that  the  suggestion 
flashed  into  the  mind  of  Captain  Goto  had  no 
relation  to  the  united  prayers  that  went  up  for 
our  deliverance?  I  know  that  the  experience 
of  one  man  cannot  serve  for  another,  but  if  any 
man  having  had  the  same  experience  as  mine, 
should  still  ridicule  or  doubt  the  possibility  of 
special  divine  intervention  in  answer  to  united 
petition,  neither  his  science  nor  his  philosophy 
would  prevent  me  from  regarding  him  as  an 
unfortunate  and  an  unenviable  man. 


(1) 


THE   END 


389 


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THE  GREAT  PEOPLES  SERIES 

Edited  by  Dr.  YORK  POWELL, 

Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

Each  Umo.     Qoth,  $K50  net;  postage^  H  cents  additional* 


The  aim  of  this  series  is  to  give  in  well-printed,  clearly  written,  and  read- 
a'  le  volumes  a  view  of  the  process  by  which  the  leading  peoples  of  the  world 
have  become  great  and  earned  their  title  to  greatness,  to  describe  the  share 
each  has  contributed  to  the  common  stock  of  civilization.  It  is  not  so  much 
a  set  of  political  or  military  or  even  social  histories,  as  a  sequence  of  readable 
studies  on  the  tendencies  and  potencies  of  the  chief  peoples  of  the  world, 
that  this  series  will  strive  to  present. 


NOW  READY: 

THE  SPANISH  PEOPLE. 

By  Dr.  Martin  A.  S.  Hume. 

"  The  reader  quickly  perceives  that  the  riches  promised  by  Dr.  Powell 
are  amply  found,  at  least  in  this  first  volume.  The  history  is  written  with  a 
new  object  and  from  a  new  standpoint ;  there  is  not  a  dull  page  in  it. 
Mr.  Hume  writes  with  all  the  advantages  of  the  modem  historical  specialist, 
and  his  picture  of  the  development  of  the  Spaniard  is  an  important  history 
of  a  people  whose  picturesque  career  is  one  of  unfailing  interest." — Boston 
Daily  Advertiser. 

THE  FRENCH  PEOPLE. 

By  Arthur  Hassall,  M.  A.,  Student  of  Christ  Church, 
Oxford ;  Author  of  "  The  Balance  of  Power,"  etc. 

In  accordance  with  the  general  plan  of  the  series,  this  important  work 
presents  the  evolution  of  a  people.  The  method  is  modern,  and  although 
the  sources,  development,  and  transitions  of  a  great  race  are  fully  indicated 
in  a  comparatively  small  compass,  the  author's  aims  and  results  differ  widely 
from  the  set  record  of  political,  dynastic,  and  military  facts  which  are  chron- 
icled in  the  dry  language  of  the  usual  hand-book.  The  part  that  France  has 
played  in  the  world's  history  has  been  frequently  so  picturesque  and  dra- 
matic, as  well  as  great,  that  a  vital  analysis  of  her  history  like  this  possesses 
a  profound  interest.  The  author  is  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  rising  English 
historians  and  a  lecturer  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 

IN  PREPARATION: 

THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE. 

By  J.  Fitzmaurice-Kelly. 

D.     APPLETON    AND     COMPANY,     NEW     YORK. 


A  STANDARD    REFERENCE  WORK. 

Appletons'    Universal    Cyclopaedia    and 
Atlas. 

This  is  the  only  Cyclopgedia  made  in  this  country  by  a  thoroughly 
organized  body  of  scholars,  writers,  and  litterateurs,  each  selected  for 
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him.  It  treats  more  than  70,000  subjects,  including  thirty  thousand 
signed  articles,  and  it  affords  the  latest  authentic  information  on  every 
topic  treated. 

It  is  the  only  cyclopaedia  that  gives  the  derivation,  meaning,  and 
pronunciation  of  foreign  names,  thus  combining  the  essential  features 
of  a  lexicon  with  the  characteristics  of  a  cyclopaedia  of  general 
knowledge. 

CONTROVERTED  SUBJECTS.  This  feature  is  entirely 
new.  Editors  of  the  older  cyclopaedias  held  that  controverted  subjects 
should  not  be  admitted  in  a  work  of  this  kind.  The  Universal  Cyclo- 
paedia and  Atlas  presents  the  great  questions  of  the  day,  pro  and  con, 
treated  by  acknowledged  exponents  of  each  view. 

ARRANGED  ANALYTICALLY.  This  is  a  time-saver;  it 
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used  as  easily  as  a  City  Directory. 

THE  ATLAS  FEATURE.  This  work  contains  a  map  of 
each  of  the  continents,  of  every  important  country,  and  of  each  State 
and  Territory  in  the  United  States  ;  also  colored  maps  and  plans  of 
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accurate,  complete,  and  immediately  accessible.  Every  one  of  these 
requirements  is  met  by  the  Universal  Cyclopaedia  and  Atlas. 

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12  extra  royal  octavo  volumes.  Prospectus,  with  pam- 
phlet of  Specimen  Pages,  etc.,  mailed  free  on  request. 

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Each,  small  8vo,  half  leather,  $2,00* 

The  History  of  the  World, 

From  the  Earliest  Historical  Time  to  the  Year  1898.  By 
Edgar  Sanderson,  M.  A.,  author  of  "A  History  of  the  British 
Empire/*  etc. 

The  Historical  Reference-Book. 

Comprising  a  Chronological  Table  of  Universal  History,  a 
Chronological  Dictionary  of  Universal  History,  and  a  Biograph- 
ical Dictionary.  With  Geographical  Notes.  For  the  use  of 
Students,  Teachers,  and  Readers.  By  Louis  Heilprin.  Fifth 
edition,  revised  to  1898. 

Natural  History. 

By  R.  Lydekker,  B.  A.;  W.  F.  Kirby,  F.  L.  S.;  B.  B.  Wood- 
ward, F.  L.  S. ;  R.  Kirkpatrick  ;  R.  I.  Pocock  j  R.  Bowdler 
Sharpe,  LL.  D.;  W.  Garstang,  M.  A.;  F.  A.  Bather,  M.  A., 
and  H.  M.  Bernard,  M.  A.  Nearly  800  pages,  and  500 
Illustrations  drawn  especially  for  this  work. 

Astronomy. 

Fully  illustrated.  By  Agnes  M.  Clerke,  A.  Fowler,  F.R.A.S., 
Demonstrator  of  Astronomical  Physics  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Science,  and  J.  Ellard  Gore,  F.  R.  A.  S. 

D.     APPLETON     AND      COMPANY,     NEW      YORK. 


DR.  EGGLESTON'S  GREAT  HISTORY^ 


The  Transit  of  Civilization 

From  England  to  America  in  the  Seventeenth  Century.  By 
Edward  Eggleston.  Uniform  with  **The  Beginner?  of  a 
Nation.'*      Small  8vo,  gilt  top,  uncut,  cloth,  ^1.50. 

All  who  have  read  **  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation"  will  wel- 
come this  new  volume  by  Mr.  Eggleston.  Though  it  is  an 
independent  work,  it  is  also  the  second  in  the  series  upon  which 
the  author  has  long  been  engaged.  Its  aim  is  to  reveal  to  the  reader 
the  mind  of  the  seventeenth  century  man — to  show  where  he 
stood  in  the  intellectual  development  of  the  race  ;  what  he  knew 
of  science,  and  how  his  character  was  determined  by  his  limi- 
tations ;  his  bondage  to  tradition,  his  credulity,  and  the  unreality 
of  the  world  in  which  he  lived,  with  its  witches,  its  omnipresent 
devil,  its  signaturism  in  plants  and  animals  to  guide  medical 
practice,  its  belief  in  the  virtue  of  sympathetic  powder,  weapon 
ointment,  and  the  fabulous  bezoar  stone.  The  standards  of  con- 
duct of  the  age  are  shown,  the  educational  aims  and  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  school  system  unthought  of  then. 

The  scope  of  the  work  may  best  be  explained  by  the  titles 
of  the  chapters,  which  are  : 

1.  Medical  Outfit  of  the  Early  Colonists. 

2.  Medical  Notions  at  the  Period  of  Settlement. 

3.  Folk  Speech  and  Mother  English. 

4.  Weights  and  Measures  of  Conduct. 

5.  The  Tradition  of  Education. 

6.  Landholding  in  the  Early  Colonies. 

This  is  no  ordinary  historical  work,  but  a  startling  view  of 
life  before  science.  No  such  account  has  ever  been  given  of  the 
colonists,  and  no  such  view  exists  of  England  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  may  be  read  in  entire  independence  of  any  other 
volume  of  the  series. 

D.     APPLETON    AND    COMPANY,     NEW    YORK. 


GREAT  COMMANDERS. 

Edited  by  General  JAMES  GRANT  WILSON. 

This  series  forms  one  of  the  most  notable  collections  of  books  that  ha.s 
been  published  for  many  years.  The  success  it  has  met  with  since  the  first 
volume  was  issued,  and  the  widespread  attention  it  has  attracted,  indicate 
that  it  has  satisfactorily  fulfilled  its  purpose,  viz.,  to  provide  in  a  popular 
form  and  moderate  compass  the  records  of  the  lives  of  men  who  have  been 
conspicuously  eminent  in  the  gjeat  conflicts  that  established  American  in- 
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raphy has  been  written  by  an  author  especially  well  qualified  for  the  task, 
and  the  result  is  not  only  a  series  of  fascinating  stories  of  the  lives  and  deeds 
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NOW  READY. 

Admiral  Farragut    -    -    -    -      By  Captain  A.  T.  Mahan,  U.  S.  N. 

General  Taylor By  General  O.  O.  Howard,  U.  S.  A. 

General  Jackson By  James  Parton. 

General  Greene By  General  Francis  V.  Greene. 

General  J.  E.  Johnston     -    -  By  Robert  M.  Hughes,  of  Virginia. 

General  Thomas By  Henry  Coppee,  LL.  D. 

General  Scott By  General  Marcus  J.  Wright. 

General  Washington     -    -    -      By  General  Bradley  T.  Johnson. 

General  Lee By  General  Fitzhugh  Lee. 

General  Hancock By  General  Francis  A.  Walker. 

General  Sheridan By  General  Henry  E.  Davies. 

General  Grant By  General  James  Grant  Wilson. 

General  Sherman     -----     By  General  Manning  F.  Force. 
Commodore  Patil  Jones    -    -    -    -    By  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady. 

General  Meade By  Isaac  R.  Pennypacker. 

General  McCleUan By  General  Peter  S.  Michie. 

General  Forrest By  Captain  J.  Harvey  Mathes. 

IN  PREPARATION. 

Admiral  Porter By  James  R.  Souey,  late  Ass't  Sec'y  U.  S.  Navy. 

General  Schofield An  Autobiography. 


D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK, 


TWO    STANDARD    BOOKS* 


Actual  Africa;  or,  The  Coming  Continent. 

A  Tour  of  Exploration.      By   Frank  Vincent.     With  Map  and 
104  full-page  Illustrations.      8vo.      Cloth,  ^5.00. 

"It  is  really  a  wonderful  book — wonderful,  I  mean,  in  the  sense  that  it  is 
the  work  of  one  man,  for  the  sum  of  the  information  that  you  have  given  the 
public  is  something  prodigious.  From  what  you  have  said  about  the  parts  of 
Africa  with  which  I  am  familiar,  I  think  there  must  be  very  few  errors,  con- 
sidering the  multitude  of  statements,  within  this  African  cyclopedia.  It  is  not 
only  a  book  of  reference  upon  almost  any  subject  connected  with  Africa,  but 
admirably — most  admirably — illustrated.  The  pictures  arc  a  credit  to  your  skill, 
and  the  art  with  which  they  have  been  impressed  upon  printing  paper." — 
Henry  M.   Stanley. 

"  It  is  a  magnificent  volume,  containing  a  large  store  of  information,  and 
admirably  illustrated.  Even  the  photographs  apart  from  the  text  would  render 
it  valuable,  and  with  the  text  it  is  highly  valuable." — Herbert  Spencer. 


In  Joyful  Russia. 

By  John  A.  Logan,  Jr.       With   50  Illustrations  in   color  and 
black  and  white,      i  2mo.      Cloth,  ^3.50. 

"Of  extreme  interest  from  beginning  to  end.  Mr.  Logan  has  animation 
of  style,  good  spirits,  a  gift  of  agreeable  and  enlivening  expression,  and  a  certain 
charm  which  may  be  called  companionableness.  To  travel,  with  him  must 
have  been  a  particular  pleasure.  He  has  sense  of  humor,  a  way  of  getting  over 
rough  places,  and  understanding  of  human  nature.  There  is  not  a  dull  chapter 
in  his  book." — Neiu  York  Times. 

"Mr.  Logan  has  written  of  the  things  which  he  saw  with  a  fullness  that 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  for  their  comprehension ;  with  an  eye  that  was 
quick  to  perceive  their  novelty,  their  picturesqueness,  their  national  significance, 
and  with  a  mind  not  made  up  beforehand — frankly  open  to  new  impressions, 
alert  in  its  perceptions,  reasonable  in  its  judgment,  manly,  independent,  and, 
like  its  environments,  filled  with  holiday  enthusiasm." — New  York  Mail  and 
Express. 

"  Mr.  Logan's  narrative  is  spirited  in  tone  and  color.  .  .  .  A  volume  that 
is  entertaining  and  amusing,  and  not  unworthy  to  be  called  instructive.  The 
5tyle  is  at  all  times  lively  and  spirited,  and  full  of  good  humor." — Philadelphia 
Press. 

D.     APPLETON     AND      COMPANY,     NEW      YORK. 


The  Races  of  Europe. 

A  Sociological  Study.  By  William  Z.  Ripley, 
Ph.  D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology  ;  Lecturer  in  An- 
thropology at  Columbia  University,  in  the  City  of 

New  York.  Crown  8vo,  cloth;  650  pages,  with  85  Maps 
and  235  Portrah  Types.  With  a  Supplementary  Bibliography  of 
nearly  z,ooo  Titles,  separately  bound  in  cloth,  issued  by  the 
Boston  Public  Library.     178  pages.     -     -     -     -     Price,  ^6.00 

**  One  of  the  most  fascinating  sociological  and  anthropo- 
logical studies  that  have  been  offered  of  late  to  the  pubUc.  .  .  . 
The  book  is  one  to  be  studied  with  care,  and  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  commend  it  as  most  helpful  to  sociological  students." 

Chicago  Evening  Post. 

"Will  win  the  approval  of  all  thoughtful  readers;  and  the 
care,  patience,  skill,  and  knowledge  with  which  it  is  planned, 
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Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

"One  of  the  most  important  works  of  the  year.'* 

Nezu  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  A  valuable  and  interesting  book.  .  .  .  Will  attract  the 
attention  of  all  students  of  anthropology  and  all  its  kindred 
subjects.  While  it  will  most  deeply  interest  advanced  schol- 
arly readers,  it  at  the  same  time  abounds  in  value  for  those 
not  among  the  learned  classes."  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

♦*An  important  work  in  the  domain  of  anthropology  and  a 
book  of  supreme  interest  at  the  present  moment." 

Chicago  Times-Herald. 

**Not  only  a  profound  sociological  study  but  a  scholarly 
contribution  to  the  science  of  anthropology  and  ethnology  by 
an  eminent  authority."  Philadelphia  Press. 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY.  NEW  YORK. 


A   MAGNIFICENT    WORKL 


The  Living  Races  of  Mankind. 

By  H.  N.  Hutchinson,  B  A.,  F.  R.  G.  S.,  F.  G.  S.;  J.  W. 
Gregory,  D.  Sc,  F.  G.  S.  ;  and  R.  Lydekker,  F.  R. 
S.,  F.  G.  S.,  F.  Z.  S.,  etc.;  Assisted  by  Eminent  Spe- 
cialists. A  Popular  Illustrated  Account  of  the  Customs, 
Habits,  Pursuits,  Feasts,  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Races 
of  Mankind  throughout  the  World.  600  Illustrations 
from  Life.  One  volume,  royal  8vo.  $5.00  net; 
postage,  65  cents  additional. 

The  publication  of  this  magnificent  and  unique  work  is  peculiarly 
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down  barriers  between  races  and  creating  a  demand  for  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  various  branches  of  the  human  family  than  has  ever 
before  existed. 

Mr.  H.  N.  Hutchinson  is  the  general  editor  ;  he  is  well  known  as  a 
fertile  writer  on  anthropological  subjects,  and  has  been  engaged  for  several 
years  in  collecting  the  vast  amount  of  material  (much  of  it  having  been 
obtained  with  great  difficulty  from  remote  regions)  herewith  presented. 
The  pictures  speak  for  themselves,  and  certainly  no  such  perfect  or  complete 
series  of  portaits  of  living  races  has  ever  before  been  attempted.  The 
letter-press  has  been  prepared  so  as  to  appeal  to  the  widest  public  possible. 

In  "  The  Living  Races  of  Mankind  "  attention  is  confined  to  a  popular 
account  of  the  existing  peoples  of  the  world.  The  various  authors  describe 
how  the  widely  scattered  members  of  the  great  fraternity  live  ;  what  they 
do ;  their  habitations,  dress,  ornaments,  and  weapons  ;  their  religious  feasts, 
ceremonies,  and  superstitions ;  their  general  characteristics,  manners,  and 
customs  in  their  daily  relations  with  one  another. 

The  superb  illustrations  are  a  new  departure,  and  form  a  most 
important  feature.  They  are  accurate  and  beautiful  reproductions  of 
photographs  from  life  and  they  form  a  collection  not  likely  to  be  secured 
again  in  the  course  of  the  coming  century. 


APPLETON    AND     COMPANY,     NEW    YORK 


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